VAN DIJK TO FOLLOW KEITA IN £250m ANFIELD BLITZ
LIVERPOOL have launched what could be the most expensive recruitment drive in their history with the £55million club-record signing of Naby Keita. Jurgen Klopp has tracked the Guinea midfielder all year and yesterday Liverpool agreed a deal with RB Leipzig that will see Keita, 22, arrive at Anfield in 2018. Liverpool paid a premium of £7m on top of the £48m release clause due to kick in next summer to ensure they landed their man. But that is unlikely to be the end of Liverpool’s spending before Thursday’s deadline. The priorities now are Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk (£70m) and Monaco forward Thomas Lemar (£75m), though two bids for Lemar have been rejected. Should those prized targets be landed, it would take their outlay for this window towards £250m. Having thrashed Arsenal 4-0 to show their potential for the season ahead, Liverpool are now determined to make a statement in the transfer market. The task of having both those players on board by Thursday is complicated. Southampton have made it clear publicly and privately that they will not consider selling former Celtic defender Van Dijk, who has been training alone since he handed in a transfer request three weeks ago. Liverpool withdrew their interest in signing Van Dijk earlier this summer after Southampton asked the Premier League to consider allegations of an illegal approach, but, crucially, Van Dijk’s desire to move to Anfield has never changed. Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino said at Huddersfield on Saturday that ‘Virgil will be here on September 1’ but relations between club and player are understood to be at an all-time low and he has his heart set on leaving. It is likely, then, that Liverpool will pursue Van Dijk before the deadline, particularly with Arsenal and Chelsea waiting in the wings. Should any move materialise, it will be a world-record fee for a defender and cost more than £70m.