Virgil van Dijk is an absolute Rolls Royce of a defender.Make no mistake that Liverpool's charge towards an unprecedented quadruple has been in no small part down to the fact that they have the world's best centre-back in the heart of their defence again.While the Reds are still a world-class team without Van Dijk in their starting XI, there's no denying that his absence from the majority of last season with an ACL injury cost them dearly.

The brilliance of Van Dijk

However, now that he's back and playing week in, week out, Liverpool fans have been given an emphatic reminder as to why they paid £75 million for his services back in the 2017/18 season.

At the time, the fee that the Reds paid to Southampton raised eyebrows amongst football fans: Van Dijk was clearly a top defender, but did he really warrant a world-record price tag for the position?

Many supporters thought the answer to that was 'no', but that couldn't be further from the case now that Van Dijk has Premier League and Champions League trophies sitting on his mantelpiece.

Chuck in UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Carabao Cup wins, as well as a second-place finish in the Ballon d'Or, to see that it was very much money well spent from the Merseyside club.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Leeds United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - September 12, 2020 Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk celebrates scoring their second goal with Roberto Firmino. Pool via REUTERS/Paul Ellis EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Van Dijk to Man Utd?!

And to think, things could have been so different because it's easy to forget that Van Dijk was actually heavily linked with a move away from Southampton in the summer before he eventually did leave.

In fact, there were more Premier League clubs than Liverpool who were linked with the Dutchman, including none other than the Reds' north-west rivals: Manchester United.

The idea of Van Dijk sporting a red devil on his chest seems pretty mind-blowing now, but there's good reason to believe that it wasn't an impossible proposition ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.

That's because United are widely believed to have considered the proposition of a move for Van Dijk in a summer where they ultimately bolstered their centre-back ranks by signing Victor Lindelof.

Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth vs Southampton - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain - December 3, 2017 Southampton's Charlie Austin celebrates scoring their first goal with Virgil van Dijk Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Man Utd picked Lindelof over Van Dijk

As a matter of fact, there's good reason to think that United actually purchased Lindelof ahead of Van Dijk in a decision that must leave the Old Trafford faithful with their head in their hands five years on.

We say that because Van Dijk's former Southampton teammate Charlie Austin revealed during a fascinating 2021 interview that the man himself had told him that United had chosen Lindelof over him.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Austin explained: “I remember at the back end of his Southampton career we were on the bench together at Chelsea away, I asked him: ‘Come on Virg, what’s going on? Surely Man United must have been in for you?'

"He told me: ‘You know what, Chaz, in the summer it was between me and Lindelof, and they signed Lindelof’. I was like: 'You are joking!’

“I don’t know if anyone knows that. I couldn’t believe it, I was gobsmacked. There was talk in the summer that he was going to go there, but they’ve gone and taken Lindelof instead.”

Gosh. Well, that decision has aged like milk.

To be fair to United, though, they might not have gotten what they wanted even in a world where did they choose Van Dijk over Lindelof with Austin implying that he always had eyes for Liverpool.

When asked if he thought an Old Trafford switch could ever have happened, Austin replied: “I’m not sure. I think he had his heart set on going to Liverpool.”

What could have been?

Make no mistake, Lindelof is still a top-class defender and one who has outperformed United's very own captain this season, but everybody can agree that he doesn't lay a glove upon Van Dijk.

The difference between a player who can compete for the Ballon d'Or and one struggling to start for a 'big six' Premier League club couldn't be any clearer in the way that Van Dijk and Lindelof's careers have progressed.

And with United and Liverpool experiencing vastly different trajectories of their own right now, you can't help thinking that the Red Devils will be kicking themselves about the decision they made in 2017.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Manchester United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 19, 2022 Manchester United's David de Gea with Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Assuming Van Dijk would have taken United up on the offer, of course...