Liverpool To Open Formal Talks Over £60m Deal After Star Snubs Chelsea For Anfield

Managers are now pressing ahead with their plans for the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Liverpool look to have won the race to sign Virgil van Dijk…

Liverpool are set to enter formal talks with Southampton over a £60m deal to sign Virgil van Dijk after the defender snubbed interest from Chelsea and Man City for Anfield, according to the Daily Mail.

Van Dijk is one of the most sought-after players in the summer transfer window after developing in to arguably the best central defender in the Premier League since joining Southampton from Celtic in 2015.

The 25-year-old has attracted interest from a whole host of top clubs with the Daily Mail saying that Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have all expressed their interest in recent weeks.

Both Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola need to sign dominant centre-backs to help tighten up their back-fours while Antonio Conte is in the market for a defender to replace John Terry and van Dijk was on their radars.

However, it looks like Liverpool have won the race as the Daily Mail are one of several media outlets reporting that the Dutch international has opted for a move to Anfield in order to work with Jurgen Klopp.

The German coach knows he needs to address his leaky defence if the Reds are to turn in to genuine title challengers next season as Liverpool shipped 42 goals last year which undermined any serious title tilt.

Signing a player of van Dijk’s quality will go a long way to solving that problem and the newspaper says Liverpool are set to enter formal negotiations with Southampton over a deal that’s expected to be worth £60m.

That fee would represent a club record for Liverpool – smashing the £35m they paid for Andy Carroll in 2011 – while it would also be a world record fee for a defender as it will be £10m more than City paid for John Stones.

The Daily Mail claim that Liverpool have already put forward a contract offer worth £180,000-a-week to van Dijk’s representatives which would put him among the clubs top earners.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming days but if these reports are accurate then it will be a major coup for Liverpool to sign such a quality player ahead of the likes of Chelsea and City.

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No doubt Liverpool being able to offer Champions League football played its part but it seems the lure of playing for Klopp has been the key driver behind van Dijk’s decision to choose Anfield.