Things seem to have gone from bad to worse for Liverpool as Roma rejected Liverpool’s bid for Mohammed Salah, stalling the deal.
Now Liverpool has confirmed that they have dropped interest in Virgil Van Dijk, after Southampton had approached FA to enquire about an illegal approach made by Liverpool for Van Dijk, Sky Sports reports.
According to several reports, Van Dijk had preferred a move to Anfield over Man City or Chelsea as Klopp personally made contact to persuade Virgil to join his side.
Liverpool then launched a statement stating, “Liverpool would like to put on record our regret over recent media speculation regarding Southampton Football Club and player transfers between the two clubs.
“We apologise to the owner, board of directors and fans of Southampton for any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk. We respect Southampton’s position and can confirm we have ended any interest in the player”.
It is believed that FA will take no further action after an official apology was made and interest in the player was dropped. Although this will be a huge blow to Liverpool, as Virgil was a key part of Klopp’s plans to recruit players for a title challenging squad for the upcoming season.
A difficult start to life at Liverpool indeed for the new sporting director, Michael Edwards, who has been summoned to explain this entire saga to the FSG.