Virgil van Dijk is currently favourite with the bookmakers to win the PFA Player of the Year award after being voted the PFA Fans’ Player of the Month for February on Monday.

The Dutchman has been in imperious form for the Reds of late and is now odds on to be crowned the league’s standout player of 2018-19 ahead of Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.

Van Dijk produced another Man of the Match performance in the 0-0 draw against Everton on Sunday, four days after scoring two goals for the Reds in a 5-0 win over Watford.

He deserves to finish the season as a Premier League champion, but Liverpool now find themselves behind Manchester City in the table after dropping points at Goodison Park.

City are on 71 points, while Liverpool are on 70, with just nine matches of the season remaining.

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has raised eyebrows on social media by claiming City should go all out to sign Van Dijk this summer.

Collymore might be a former Red, but he acknowledges that City would be even stronger if they sign the centre-back many people currently consider to be the world’s best player in his position.

“I know Pep Guardiola has said he’ll prioritise a full-back and a defensive midfielder in the summer,” Collymore wrote in the Mirror.

“But if I was him the first person I’d be targeting is Virgil van Dijk.

“I’d offer John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi plus £150million for the Dutchman and I wouldn’t stop until Liverpool accepted my offer was simply too good to turn down.”

Stones was signed for £47.5 million in August 2016 and is now probably worth around the £60 million mark.

Otamendi, meanwhile, was signed for £28.5 million and would fetch a similar fee now.

This means Collymore values Van Dijk around the £230 million mark.

Remember, the world's most expensive player at present is Neymar, who cost Paris Saint-Germain £200 million to sign from Barcelona.

“I know Jurgen Klopp has a long-term contract at Anfield and that, if Liverpool don’t win the Premier League, they will finish probably finish second and won’t want to be selling their best players,” Collymore continued.

“Especially not to their rivals.

“But Van Dijk is one of those incredibly gifted athletes and would make any defence on Planet Earth significantly better.

“And if City want to become the dominant force they say they want to, then going all out for him would be a no-brainer.

“Van Dijk has to be worth at least £175m of anybody’s money and, while it’s easy to throw around statements such as ‘best in the world’, I really believe he is.”

Stones and Otamendi plus £150 million adds up to a lot more than £175 million, Stan.