Manchester City Reportedly “Close” To £60M Virgil van Dijk Deal

This summer, Liverpool made the costly mistake of “tapping up” Southampton star defender Virgil van Dijk, forcing the Reds to make an embarrassing public apology and effectively ending their pursuit of the player for the rest of the window. It seems as if that costly mistake is about to get costlier.

According to The Telegraph, Manchester City are close to completing a £60 million deal to secure Van Dijk in the January transfer window. If true, this would contradict the report from a few days ago that it was, in fact, Liverpool who were close to signing the want-away defender.

This would be a major blow to Liverpool’s hopes of strengthening in needed areas this January. It would also, inevitably, add more fuel to the #FSGOut fire, exacerbating this summer’s recruitment snafu.

From Van Dijk’s perspective, City has to look like the more attractive club at the moment. He would almost certainly finish the season with at least one winner’s medal, and the well-financed club is likely willing to best any wage package offered by Liverpool.

And although City—having scored the most, and conceded the fewest in the league—don’t desperately need a top center back, this is a good opportunity to increase their odds on multiple fronts, and damage a rival’s chances in the process. Not that a club 20 points back at midseason could be considered a rival at this stage.

Anyway, stay tuned.