Saints want £50m for star centre-back
Southampton have told Liverpool that they will have to fork out a whopping £50million if they want any chance of signing star centre-back Virgil van Dijk, claims Matt Le Tissier.
Van Dijk has caught the eye of almost everyone this season with some fantastic performances, including some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs.
Liverpool have signed several of Southampton’s star performers over recent seasons, and Saints legend Matt Le Tissier has claimed that Van Dijk will cost them more than they’ve ever paid for a Southampton player.
The 48-year-old said: “From what I have seen this season, I’d suggest it would take between £40-50m to get Virgil van Dijk away from Southampton.
“I would be very surprised if he was let go for anything less than that because he has signed a new long-term deal. Celtic will have a sell-on clause and rightly so. That’s good business by them.
“If Van Dijk stayed for a couple of years I’d be absolutely delighted. But I doubt we’ll keep him for that long. I’m hoping we can at least keep him until the end of the season because then it doesn’t disrupt things too much. Hopefully, we don’t lose him in January.
“We have signed three top-notch players from Celtic who have managed to do very good jobs. Big Vic has moved on but he did a cracking job during his time here.
“Fraser is still terrific but van Dijk is probably the best centre-back in the Premier League at the moment. He is as good as that. I have seen a lot of Southampton this season.
At times, he looks like a man playing in a boy’s game. He really does. He had Romelu Lukaku in his pocket for the entire game Everton on Sunday. He is superb.
“I wasn’t surprised by Southampton going to Celtic and Scottish football for players because I know the scouting system at the club is superb. They do real in-depth research into players they buy.
“Yes, you are taking something of a chance because you don’t know how they are going to react when they come to the Premier League. So far, though, they have picked out three absolute gems.”
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
