Manchester United could have beaten fierce rivals Liverpool to the signing of Virgil van Dijk only for the Glazers to veto a big-money move, it has been revealed.
The Red Devils were linked with a swoop for the Dutch defender before he sealed a sensational £75m move to Anfield from Southampton in January 2018. He has proven to be a transformative signing for Jurgen Klopp since then.
He has helped the Merseyside outfit to the Premier League and Champions League titles, as well as a whole host of other trophies. He could potentially have been donning a slightly different shade of red had former Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho got his way.
Popular presenter Chris Kamara has revealed that he suggested that the Portuguese make a move for Van Dijk during his time at Old Trafford only to be met with a cold response from the club hierarchy. Speaking on the BBC’s Proper Football Podcast, he said: “I can exclusively reveal that I told Jose [Mourinho] to take him to Manchester United and Jose said ‘these lot won’t give me the money for him.’ And he went to Liverpool.”
Guest Troy Deeney suggested that United fans will be left furious given that decision from the Glazers. He replied: “That’s going to go viral, love it. Man Utd fans are going to be in absolute tatters now.”
Van Dijk’s former Southampton teammate Charlie Austin has also hinted that the centre-back could have been on the move to Old Trafford only for the Red Devils to go in a different direction.
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Speaking to talkSPORT last year, he said: “I remember the back end of his [Van Dijk’s] 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.”
Despite sealing the services of Lindelof from Benfica, United were once again in the market for a centre-back just a year-and-a-half after seeing Van Dijk move to Liverpool. The Red Devils eventually splashed what was a world record fee on Harry Maguire from Leicester.
Mourinho had been chasing the defender a year previously but had been sacked before the Red Devils sealed his services - his replacement Ole Gunnar Solskjaer eventually welcoming Maguire to Old Trafford.
