The reality is we have certain evidence before us: a) someone thinks klopp wants him.. the betting says so b) southampton have said he's going nowhere c) Someone somewhere gave a reporter the line that van dijk chooses liverpool. this suited some agenda.. which i don't know. d) southampton ask premier league to investigate - clear delaying tactic. for me none of this suggests a short friendly transfer conversation is being had anywhere along the line. when you hear there are actual talks from either club officials (not press buddies) then you'll know something is happening I sincerely doubt this will be done quickly... e) van dijk is only starting to ramp up work on training ground after injury.. nobody is buying him til he can prove his fitness. Everything else IMO is press talk who need new angles every day to show they are on the story. It cycles from a club is sure to buy (city) to they don't want him in the course of a week for example
Nothing is conclusive yet, hardball game by Southampton. For a long time Liverpool were on the tail of Solanke, Chelsea never claimed we tapped him.
he was out of contract after january and was able to speak with anyone Van dijk signed a new deal and is nowhere near that period.
I think the question is all about whether Klopp had contacted VVD directly to persuade him to 'choose Liverpool, City is not the club you're looking for', like a German Jedi, as has been the suggestion in some of the rumours. If VVD confirms that, then yeah, it's pretty much directly tapping up a player, and Jurgen Skywalker will look naive at best.
This is madness. Van Dijk has 17 clean sheets in 55 appearances...Does anyone know what Lovrens record was like at Southampton? Lovren is 37 in 110 now (better than 17 in 55) and although I understand that this figure may be more complementary to the team who has placed higher in the league; this is a defender who has reportedly faired much worse for us than he did his previous club. Admittedly, I have not watched Southampton play much, and I understand the arguement that you can really only make true judgements once you have seen the guy play. But sod it! I call bullshit on the 50 mil figure in the first place and if teams are playing hardball on an already inflated figure then leave him be at Southampton! If, he is as good as people claim then I am sure he will want to go looking for bigger things anyways (no disrespect to saints). Additionally I remember people said Lovren was a world beater when he played for the Saints and although he has picked up his game (in fairness) we could have bought better for £20 mil at the time....
Guys we can all conclude that @Jimmy Squarefoot is responsible for the tapping up or he is an agent. How else does he know about elite talents playing in the Bosnian third division