Virgil van Dijk is some player.
The Southampton defender has bloomed into a wonderfully accomplished defender at the club since he joined from Celtic for £13m in 2015. He is strong, fast, aerially dominant and physically imposing at 6ft 4in, a powerful runner with the ball at his feet, technically gifted, a fine passer both long and short, a natural leader, and he can score goals on a regular basis. All that and he is coming into his prime years as a footballer.
Liverpool need a defender, just a decent one to properly compliment the classy, calm and dependable Joel Matip. Signing someone like Van Dijk would be a dream, and so it is no surprise that many of their fans are desperate for the player to make take the well-trodden road from St Mary's to Anfield. Indeed both Liverpool and Chelsea have been most strongly linked to the player for some weeks now.
Southampton would obviously require a replacement for the big Dutchman, and have reportedly identified Parisian Mamadou Sakho as that man. He is on loan to Crystal Palace from Liverpool. So guess what deal is in the offing? That's right - Sakho to Southampton, so that Chelsea can sign Van Dijk. Everyone is happy - apart from Liverpool fans that is.
It is a scenario that many of the Anfield faithful find utterly maddening - and sadly reminiscent of when they sold Luis Suarez to Barcelona without insisting/even enquiring about Alexis Sanchez being part of the deal...
https://twitter.com/PhantomGoal/status/846475832184983552
https://twitter.com/goatinho_/status/846476223056412674
https://twitter.com/Cillian_tweets/status/846512359963283456
https://twitter.com/_NhlanhlaM/status/846477625048666112
https://twitter.com/ThisMerv/status/846493086251397120
https://twitter.com/andrewcummins64/status/846608518278995968
https://twitter.com/ManLike_Ben/status/846479036767506432
https://twitter.com/azrulazimi/status/846516599100137472
https://twitter.com/TheIrishKopite/status/846479017167536130
https://twitter.com/Tomffs/status/846479997179179013
https://twitter.com/tuttoardito/status/846516865417412608
