Ask any Liverpool fan what they needed this summer and 99% of them would have said a centre-back.
Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip is a centre-back partnership that just won’t win you the Premier League.
And it seems Jurgen Klopp was fully aware of that heading into the summer. He identified Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk as his number one transfer priority and did all he could to sign the Dutchman.
But maybe Klopp did a little bit too much as Southampton cried foul and made Liverpool apologise for their illegal pursuit of their defender.
Liverpool issued a statement that read: “Liverpool Football Club would like to put on record our regret over recent media speculation regarding Southampton Football Club and player transfers between the two clubs.
"We apologise to the owner, board of directors and fans of Southampton for any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk.
"We respect Southampton's position and can confirm we have ended any interest in the player.”
After that statement, it looked impossible that Liverpool would end up signing the 26-year-old.
However, after Van Dijk handed in a transfer request, it still looks likely that the defender will leave Southampton with his preference being a move to Liverpool after the two clubs agreed terms earlier this summer.
But with a little over 24 hours remaining of the transfer window, Van Dijk is still a Southampton player.
What Liverpool are waiting for
So, will Liverpool attempt to make a last-ditch effort to sign him?
According to the Independent, they’re waiting on one thing - a green light from Southampton.
The report states the apology:
“Included a promise from Liverpool that they will not try to sign Van Dijk again unless they are given the green light by Southampton and they are still waiting for that to happen.”
Ah, so Liverpool are waiting for Southampton to give them the go ahead to sign Van Dijk.
It’s expected that an offer of around £70 million will be enough to convince the Saints to hand over the defender but Liverpool are quickly running out of time.