Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has established himself as one of Jurgen Klopp’s key players over the years, but things could have been very different for the Netherlands international.
Van Dijk joined Liverpool for a club record fee of £75 million in 2018, which turned out to be a good investment at the time. Yes, there is no denying that it was a huge transfer fee, but Liverpool signed Van Dijk at a time he was becoming one of the best defenders in the world.
The 30-year-old has showed signs over the past two seasons that he is beginning to slow down. In turn, Klopp’s Liverpool side look a million miles away from where they were two years ago.
However, it turns out Van Dijk was very close to joining Manchester United but the powers that be at Old Trafford opted to sign Victor Lindelof instead. That is according to former Southampton striker Charlie Austin.
Austin opened up on a conversation he had with Van Dijk when they were both sat on the bench during a Southampton match.
A year ago, Austin told talkSPORT: “I remember the back end of his Southampton career we were on the bench together at Chelsea away. I sat there I said, ‘come on Virgil, what’s going on, surely Man Utd must’ve been in for you?’ Massive club in England, etc.
“He said, ‘you know what Chaz, in the summer it was like between me or Lindelof and they signed Lindelof’. I was like, ‘you are joking!’ Nobody knows that, he told me that on the bench. I couldn’t believe it, I was just as gobsmacked as you.
“Obviously there was talk in the summer he was going to go there, then they’ve gone and taken Lindelof instead.”
