Liverpool Ready to Bid on Van Dijk Should Southampton Approve

Liverpool are reportedly gearing up to make another bid for Virgil van Dijk this summer, but only if Southampton explicitly make clear they’re willing to entertain offers for the centre-back. After the small ‘tapping up’ kerfuffle earlier this summer, Liverpool are eager to make nice with their best source of new players and maybe land a deal with van Dijk while they’re at it.

Southampton have so far been unwilling to budge and have gone as far as keeping van Dijk from training with the rest of the team, presumably to try to finally stop the contagious Let’s-Just-Go-To-Liverpool-itis that’s been plaguing the club for years. Van Dijk will also be missing out on Southampton’s preseason preparation trip to France this week. It now comes down to if Saints’ new boss, Mauricio Pellegrino, will decide that the defender’s desires, along with Liverpool’s reportedly record-shattering proposed bid, are enough of an incentive to let van Dijk leave.

Pellegrino has been adamant about where the club stands on this, however.

“The club was clear,” he said when discussing van Dijk’s temporary exile. “The club told me they will not sell Virgil.”

Should Southampton change its mind and indicate that they’re willing to accept offers for van Dijk, Liverpool’s bid will reportedly make the Dutch international the most expensive defender in the world.

The current situation is hardly ideal for any of the parties involved. It now remains to be seen if Southampton are willing to make the first move.