Rumour Mongering: Reds Remain Hopeful of Van Dijk and Keïta Captures

It always seemed ambitious, Liverpool's summer shopping list. For a time, it looked destined to end up an albatross around the club's neck after they were forced to publicly apologise and back off of Southampton centre half Virgil van Dijk.

Now, though, with Mohamed Salah flying in for a Wednesday medical, there are hints from club-connected journalists that they still believe they can get Jürgen Klopp's two remaining top transfer targets in—RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keïta and, despite the apology, Van Dijk.

With the club clamping down on leaks following the Van Dijk incident, it has been difficult to know these past two weeks what the response of the club would be in the market, and it was perhaps telling that no viable defensive options appeared in the press.

No serious alternatives to Van Dijk were floated by journalists with ties to the club, but more than that there were no serious, viable links put out there from other sources—from other clubs or from players' agents—suggesting something might be in the works.

Meanwhile in midfield, the only name brought up was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is currently deep in contract negotiations with Arsenal. Today he has been linked with Chelsea in addition to Liverpool, rather pointing to his agent as the source of the rumours.

Liverpool might actually be interested in Oxlade-Chamberlain as an alternative to Keïta, but his name being in the press these past few weeks looks to have more to do with his Arsenal contract negotiations than it does any potential Liverpool interest.

And today, finally, we're starting to again get whispers from club-connected journalists; from those with established relationships with sources who might know Liverpool's plans. And they're saying the club's top targets are still on the table.

That part of the reason there has been nothing new these past few weeks—and nothing at all beyond the Oxlade-Chamberlain drone—was because there are no new targets. Just the old ones. Just Van Dijk and Keïta to go with Salah.

Those are the top targets. They were the top targets and remain as such. In addition, the club still want a left back; striker, though, is not a priority. Hopefully Salah's imminent arrival, then, will be the first step towards a string of noteworthy summer signings.