It might have taken them five months too long, but Liverpool are delighted to have finally signed Virgil van Dijk.

Jurgen Klopp was desperate to sign the Southampton defender in the summer but those hopes were dashed when the club were reported to the Premier League for their apparent illegal approach.

But the Reds weren’t going to take no for an answer.

They could have signed an alternative in the summer but decided to wait for the dust to settle down before agreeing a £75 million deal for Van Dijk in January.

Of course, waiting until January had its risks.

The likes of Manchester City and Chelsea were also snooping around but it seems Van Dijk always had his heart set on a move to Anfield.

Or did he?

That's because, 12 months ago, he was spotted wearing a Man City shirt during Southampton training.

But why?

Well, it was soon revealed that it was Southampton's Secret Santa and a mischievous teammate had brought him a Man City shirt and rucksack amid speculation of City being interested in him.

At that time, it looked as though Van Dijk would soon move to the Etihad but that never materialised.

GUARDIOLA ON LIVERPOOL SIGNING VAN DIJK

But it was Klopp and Liverpool who won the race and City boss Pep Guardiola admitted he wasn’t particularly surprised by the £75m price-tag.

"Liverpool took an amazing player, Van Dijk is an exceptional central defender," Guardiola admitted.

"That's a price we'll see (again) in the future. If he plays six or seven years at a high level it would be cheap.

"John Stones, when he came here, people said he was too expensive. Now he's too cheap. It always depends on the value of what happens on the pitch."