After his phenomenal performance against Liverpool where he completely shut out Sadio Mane and Firmino, Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk has become a hot prospect for the European giants and the latest club to be linked with the player, quite not so surprisingly, are Liverpool according to Mirror.
The Dutch centre-back has fast established himself as one of the most solid centre-backs in the league since moving from Celtic. The Liverpool boss also sees him as the man to help solve the Reds’ problems with their leaky defence. He had recently signed a new six-year deal at St Mary’s in the summer but Klopp is confident that he can convince him to switch the south coast for Anfield. It is believed that he will make initial approaches when the January transfer window opens.
Liverpool’s defence is the weakest link and Jürgen Klopp is desperately looking to bring someone at the back who would provide some composure under pressure.
Southampton boss Claude Puel knows he faces an uphill battle to keep his star man. He said, “We will see for the future. For now, he is with us and I am enjoying having this player with the squad and I hope for the future also. I enjoy it when all the players can improve like van Dijk because it’s the philosophy of the club. We will see in the future if he can continue this work.”
Strengths
At 193 cm, Virgil Van Dijk is tremendously good in the air. Southampton staved off many crosses from Liverpool flanks reducing Firmino’s threat to half. He reads the game brilliantly, which makes his interception skill supreme. He has made 26 interceptions, 83 clearances and seven blocks. He also possess a brilliant recovery pace in case he is found out of position and that’ll be helpful if he moves to Liverpool as the Reds play a high-line.
Weaknesses
Well, his impact has been so impressive that one cannot really pin-point any specific weaknesses. He seems like a complete defender.
Opportunities
Jürgen Klopp seems to have lost faith in Spaniard Alberto Moreno, forcing James Milner to play out of position. Van Dijk will surely enter the first team directly if he joins Liverpool. The Reds’ attack has been tremendous this season but they have often found themselves conceding quickly in the later stages of the games. Van Dijk’s versatility means he could play at left-back or right-back as well.
Threats
Except for Joel Matip, Liverpool’s defence is quite inferior to Virgil Van Dijk’s abilities. There are hardly any defenders at Anfield at the moment that will give a competition to the Dutch defensive maestro. But if Lovren is in form, like he is right now, Van Dijk might face stiff competition to get starts on a regular basis if he does indeed make the move.
