Virgil van Dijk is increasingly desperate to leave Southampton this summer and has reportedly submitted a transfer request amid interest from Chelsea and Liverpool
According to a report by The Sun, Virgil van Dijk is keen on forcing an exit from Southampton in an attempt to join Chelsea or Liverpool. Although Liverpool have been chasing the star defender for quite some time now, the Blues are also attempting to secure van Dijk’s signature.
Van Dijk received his first big break in British football when he joined Celtic back in 2013. The Dutchman played brilliantly and became a mainstay for the team in no time. Often compared to Rio Ferdinand for his style of play, the Dutch centre-back joined Southampton in 2015.
Since then, he has been a rock in the Southampton back-line and gradually established himself as one of the most dependable centre-backs in the English top flight, which attracted the attention of big clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool.
The Merseyside club were believed to be front-runners after the player himself admitted to wanting to join Jurgen Klopp. However, Liverpool are understood to have used an illegal way to approach Van Dijk following which the Saints threatened to file a complaint.
The Reds subsequently issued an apology after that and will only hope that they can secure a deal.
Chelsea have signed Antonio Rudiger this summer but Conte seems to be lacking for dependable options beyond the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill. If Conte manages to sign the player though, he will be happy to have secured the services of a strong defender to man his back-line.
Klopp, on the other hand, has been linked with van Dijk ever since the transfer window began. He has been struggling to find a dependable partner for Joel Matip. Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan have struggled to maintain consistency, thus accentuating the need for a quality defender.
Additionally, van Dijk is brilliant when it comes to aerial challenges and that could potentially be an asset for Klopp’s side which has often struggled in set-piece situations. Irrespective of which club van Dijk joins in the end though, he will provide a solid boost to their defence, and it remains to be seen where he heads off to this summer.
