Liverpool made the signing of Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk top priority during the summer transfer window, but failure to land the Dutch meant adding depth to the position was shelved.
A return for the signature of the wantaway 26-year-old in January was expected, and some woeful and questionable defending at the start of the campaign once again called for concerns.
However, it appears the Reds are no longer keen on Van Dijk, with manager Jurgen Klopp suggesting in his presser ahead of Friday night’s Arsenal clash that a defender won’t be recruited in January.
According to the German: “When we win a game and when we defend well, then I’m happy about it. If we defend not that good as a team, then I’m not happy about it, but I don’t then think the solution is a new player always.
“We are not relaxed, but we have a view on everything and it needs to fit together and everything needs to work out in the end and you need to have solutions for different situations, systems and all that stuff.
“So far, it’s okay, but it could have been better, and it could have been much worse.”
Deciding to wait until summer before signing the Saints defender could be a huge gamble, and so is pulling out of the race entirely.
Liverpool surely need another top centre-back if they are to mount a strong title challenge next term, and not many are better than Van Dijk.
That the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea are also keen on the ball-playing stopper means he won’t likely be available till summer, with Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino recently admitting a January exit for Van Dijk is a huge possibility.
