It's the football news on the tip of everyone's tongue.

This week, Liverpool stunned the world when they announced they had agreed to pay Southampton £75m for Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk.

The former Celtic giant will join up with the Reds squad and sign his contract on January 1 and was in attendance to see Jurgen Klopp's side earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Leicester at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah scored yet another brace and despite Liverpool turning in a pretty decent performance, there was still clear evidence that Van Dijk has a lot to do to sort out their defence.

His price tag may not exactly help him either, as the limelight will be firmly focused on him throughout his time at the club, particularly in the early stages.

The fee shattered the previous record paid for a defender, which was the £52m Manchester City forked out for Monaco's Benjamin Mendy, and it turns out there was something strange about the way the £75m was negotiated by the two clubs.

In an exclusive column by Sam Wallace of the Telegraph, the journalist reveals that there were in fact no negotiations between the two clubs; Southampton simply quoted a price and Liverpool paid it.

LIVERPOOL CAVE IN FOR VAN DIJK

Odd, right?

In the modern game, negotiating the price of transfers is key and it seems Liverpool have paid way over the odds simply because they realised they had to try and sign a defender as soon as possible.

Fair play to the Saints for milking them for all they're worth.

It also turns out that the move was all agreed by December 21, but Klopp and Van Dijk's agent were not informed until Christmas Eve.

Things certainly weren't done the conventional way, were they?

Klopp has already said that he plans to ease Van Dijk into his first-team plans, with the most likely target for his first appearance being the crucial game at home to Manchester City on January 14.

Against Pep Guardiola's side, Klopp is going to need his defensive recruit to be at the top of his game.