In the end, Liverpool didn't have to wait until January to get their hands on Virgil van Dijk.The Dutchman has signed for the Reds in an extraordinary £75million deal, a world record for a defender.How it's set to affect the market for centre-backs in the long-term, only time will tell. Regardless, the money being talked about is pretty staggering.Nevertheless, absolutely no-one will be surprised that the former Celtic man is on the move to Merseyside.Jurgen Klopp spent the majority of the summer pursuing him, before Southampton cried foul play, Liverpool were forced to issue an apology and, apparently, "end their interest" in the player.The one man connected with the club who won't be delighted with the signing is Dejan Lovren. This might well spell the end of his error-strewn spell at Anfield, as the consensus is that he's simply made too many crucial errors to be relied upon any longer.VVD ought to be an improvement, though he isn't flawless and hasn't quite reached the levels of last season this time around. A serious ankle injury suffered in January might well have played a part in that.In fact, while Liverpool fans have every right to be excited about his arrival, Manchester United supporters have cruelly taken the opportunity to remind them of a moment when Van Dijk was far from his brilliant best.

Martial destroyed him 

Back in September 2015, when Anthony Martial was still a fresh-faced new-boy in the Premier League, he spent a 3-2 victory at St Mary's cruising past the Saints' defence - and for one of his two goals, it was a certain Van Dijk who was left looking rather silly.

Check it out below:

It's fair to say that on that evidence, the Frenchman will be looking forward to meeting him again when United next play Liverpool on March 10.

Spurs fans have been at it too, remembering when Harry Kane blitzed past Liverpool's record signing:

All in all, Van Dijk is going to have to convince a lot of people, but that's in the nature of big-money moves.

Liverpool's defence has plagued them for so long that they are crying out for a new centre-half; now all eyes will be on Van Dijk in January to see if he can change that.

Is Van Dijk worth £75million? Have your say in the comments.