Liverpool went for three defenders before signing Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk has wasted no time in lowering those eyebrows which were raised when he cost Liverpool £75 million in January.

One of the longest transfer sagas in recent memory came to an end over the Christmas period, when Van Dijk was finally prised away from Southampton. Southampton initially rebuffed Liverpool's summer advances and the Merseyside club was forced to apologise after Saints asked the Premier League to investigate whether an illegal approach was being made.

A statement from Liverpool at the time read:

"Liverpool Football Club would like to put on record our regret over recent media speculation regarding Southampton Football Club and player transfers between the two clubs.

"We apologise to the owner, board of directors and fans of Southampton for any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk.

"We respect Southampton’s position and can confirm we have ended any interest in the player."

It was at this point that the Reds looked at alternatives to Van Dijk and, apparently, they had three options in mind. A new report in the Daily Mail states that the following players were being lined up:

• Davinson Sanchez (Spurs)
• Michael Keane (Everton)
• Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)

All emerged as candidates for Liverpool when the Van Dijk collapsed but none of the three were believed to have the X-Factor possessed by the Dutch defender. Keane ended up moving to the other major Merseyside club, Everton, while Sanchez went to Spurs. And after Van Dijk's Southampton impasse proved irreparable in January, Klopp finally got his top defensive target. The 27-year-old has swiftly cemented his status as one of the most reliable centre-halves in the league and remains sky high in his new manager's estimations.

"Virgil's performance was really, really good," Klopp said after Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Monday. "Quality costs a specific price. Cars are like that. Lots of things are like that. Players too. "Nobody thinks about that now, which is good. In this market at the moment, he's at least worth it."