Liverpool Deal for Virgil Van Dijk “Close” Says Ex-Red

Club leaks to the press have dried up in recent weeks following the decision to brief friendly journalists on the fact that Virgil van Dijk had chosen Anfield ahead of all other suitors—and the apology for making an improper approach for the player that followed when Southampton reacted badly to Liverpool’s public victory lap.

Nature, though, abhors a vacuum, and so in place of the likes of James Pearce, Paul Joyce, and Melissa Reddy sharing sourced tidbits has come a string of former Liverpool players offering their opinion on transfer matters. Whether those former players have any real insight into what’s going on is a question with no good answer.

“I think the Van Dijk thing is close,” was the latest word from a former Red, with Danny Murphy the man taking a turn this time around to talk about the club’s hoped-for summer transfer business. “I hope that happens because I think defensively is where they need to get better. They need that and a left-back of course.”

In the absence of any new links to centre halves, the belief in most circles is that Liverpool remain hopeful of a deal for Van Dijk despite their earlier troubles. As the days and weeks pass, though, some fans are growing increasingly nervous at the possibility of the club going into the season without their transfer business done.

Still, while there remains no noise regarding alternative targets, the most likely reading is that the club are confident they can sign Van Dijk—as well as Leipzig midfielder Naby Keïta—and a little bit of patience may be required, something Murphy is preaching, insisting the club are hard at work trying to get a few deals done.

“My understanding is that they are trying desperately hard to improve the squad and that they’re willing to put quite a few pounds behind that,” added the ex-Red. “You can’t rush these things. There are domino effects with transfers. It will start.”