VIRGIL’S WORTH IT
Forget £75m price, Van Dijk will soar at Anfield, says Klopp FOR ALL BREAKING SPORTS NEWS VISIT
JURGEN KLOPP insists there is no hurry to pick £75million signing Virgil van Dijk just because Liverpool have shattered the world transfer record for a defender.
The 26-year-old Holland international said his goodbyes to Southampton yesterday and is expected at Anfield tomorrow for his new club’s Premier League clash with Leicester City.
He is eligible to play in the FA Cup third-round tie against Everton a week today but Liverpool boss Klopp claims there is no rush to throw him in.
Klopp said: ‘He has to adapt to our style of play. It is completely different but we are 100-per-cent sure that he will do it. I am happy it is finally done but there is no rush.
‘I can imagine people will think: “Wow, what a number it is” but for me the fee is not really interesting.
‘We do not make the price, the market makes the price and the first thing all Liverpool supporters should forget quite soon is the price.
‘We only talk about the player and what he can bring in, his qualities, mentality and character. That is why we are really happy about it.’
Klopp admitted that Van Dijk’s fitness issues were a concern as he has only played 16 times for Southampton in 2017.
‘It was probably not his best half of the season at Southampton,’ conceded the German. ‘He was injured and then we know about the things that happened last summer.’
Former Celtic defender Van Dijk is poised to secure the Parkhead club a £7.5m windfall after they inserted a sell-on clause in the £13m deal which saw the player leave the east end of Glasgow for Southampton in September 2015.
Since then, the centre-back’s reputation has soared, with Manchester City and Chelsea believed to have been among his suitors.
But it seems not everyone has been completely won over by his qualities.
Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock made the extraordinary claim yesterday that, despite the huge price tag, he doesn’t rate the Dutchman as highly as Bluebirds’ current centre-back Sol Bamba. Warnock revealed he was close to signing Van Dijk from Celtic when in charge of Crystal Palace — but nowadays wouldn’t swap him for the ex-Hibs defender curently doing a job for him in the Sky Bet Championship. ‘I think Sol Bamba is slightly better than Van Dijk, defensivewise,’ he said.
‘Van Dijk’s better on the ball but I don’t think he’s a better defender than Sol Bamba.
‘I think Van Dijk is more confident on the ball and easier on the eye.
‘When I was at Palace, the centre-half I was looking at was Van Dijk and I suggested we buy him for £6m.
‘At the time, the chief scout said he wasn’t quick enough, he was playing in the Scottish league and he didn’t see him stepping up to the level we were looking for.’