Virgil Van Dijk Thought Liverpool Deal Was Agreed ! Was He Lied To ! Monday, 11th Sep 2017 10:04 According to a story in the media today Virgil Van Dijk thought his move to Liverpool was all agreed, leading to questions about how much he knew about it when he spoke to Liverpool. Journalist Ian McGarry has claimed that Virgil Van Dijk was under the impression that the move to Liverpool was all agreed when he met with officials of the club and agreed personal terms. Speaking on a podcast McGarry said. "Van Dijk, compared to his fellow rebels in the Premier League Alexis Sanchez and Philippe Coutinho, has one great advantage in that he's not going to be cup tied for European football in the January window." "So, I would say of those three he's got the best prospects of leaving and joining a club in January." "Liverpool was his first choice. "I spoke to a close friend of his and Van Dijk definitely believed his deal to Liverpool was all agreed in terms of his personal terms in terms of this transfer window that's just closed." "I think the takeover of Southampton Football Club, I say takeover, but the investment in Southampton Football Club had a negative effect from Van Dijk's point of view." "They no longer wanted, or needed, the money that they would get from selling him to Liverpool for about £55m." "Whether that backfires on them in regard to the player's performance we'll have to wait and see as he's not featured yet." "But I go back to the original point in that Van Dijk has a good chance of moving in January where I would say Sanchez and Coutinho don't." McGarry seems to be inferring that Saints had agreed to sell Van Dijk to Liverpool or at least the player himself believed they had and that is why he met with them and agreed personal terms. The article seems to be trying to give the impression that Saints reneged after initially agreeing to sell due to a sudden influx of investment and that the player himself only entered into personal negotiations in this belief. So who lied to Van Dijk ? Was it Saints who initially told him he could go, or his agent or indeed Liverpool. However the article has several flaws in this theory , firstly the Chinese Investment did not occur until mid August and up to that point had dragged on to the point that Saints themselves did not believe that it would happen and were exploring other options, by then Van Dijk was already in his exile away from the first team and had been for the best part of a month with Saints having made it quite clear that they were not going to sell, investment or no investment Saints did not want or need to sell Van Dijk and publicly at least this had always been their stance. So if Van Dijk spoke to Liverpool and agreed terms then he would be aware of the protocol involved, he would know he could not do so without Saints permission, did he approach the club directly and ask them for permission and receive it ? There has been no indication from Van Dijk, his agent or Liverpool that Saints had ever agreed to sell. So It seems not, given that what Saints did as soon as they became aware of the situation was go to the Premier League and complain with Liverpool immediately backing down and apologising. So in this case the only real question remaining was whether Van Dijk believed he had that permission because either his agent or Liverpool or indeed both had assured them that Saints were in agreement he could meet, in effect was he lied to. Sadly I would say the probability is that he went to those meetings aware that Saints had not been approached, however he would not be the only player in football who has met with a club privately without permission, it goes on all the time. Liverpool themselves were quite prominent in leaking that the deal was in the bag and initially I would say that perhaps they themselves were under the impression that Saints had agreed the player could go, that is not to let them off the hook, especially because their conduct did not really improve after the issue became public and they apologised, but I cannot think of any other reason as to why they would have been so stupid as to brag about signing him. Ian MGarry is not the most respected journalist in football, indeed he was relieved of his duties from a job at the Sun in 2008 after writing an exclusive about Mark Hughes leaving Manchester City and going to Spurs, claiming that Spurs officials had met with Hughes in a story ironically similar to this one. So McGarry is not exactly a man with reliable sources although he has to be applauded for being one of the last to still be claiming a Van Dijk move was imminent in August and one of the first to start the Van Dijk to Liverpool in January, he is nothing but consistent. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 31 bloggersSouthampton Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
