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Liverpool sent shock waves across the world of football in late December 2017.
The Reds, plagued by defensive problems, made a statement on the transfer market by breaking a defender’s world record when Virgil van Dijk arrived from Southampton for £ 75 million.
The Reds first went to the captain of the Netherlands in the summer of 2017, but the way the negotiations were conducted angered Southampton and Liverpool and were forced to withdraw publicly. Humiliated, it seemed that Van Dijk’s chase was over.
Instead, bridges were built in the months that followed when Liverpool sought to resurrect the deal. The price would go up but Liverpool, always determined, made the deal.
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Since then Van Dijk has been instrumental in Liverpool winning the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, as well as their title challenge this season.
However, it could all have been so different if Southampton had blocked another Reds move for the 28-year-old, leaving another club to stop him.
Before Van Dijk’s arrival, manager Jurgen Klopp’s preferred central defense association was Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip, with Joe Gomez often deployed as a defense.
The Reds conceded 38 goals in the 2017/18 Premier League season, when Van Dijk was only present during the second half of the season.
They only let in 22 goals last season and so far they have conceded 21 times this season; Combined, this is just five more than the 17/18 season alone.
The 2016/17 season saw Klopp’s men concede 42 goals and 50 in his first season in charge at Anfield.
What Van Dijk has brought, in abundance, is the focus on the defensive line, of course helped by the addition of goalkeeper Alisson, but the defender from the Netherlands sets the tone with his calm approach to the game.
It is rarely submerged, because it is rarely out of position; if so, you have the speed and strength to recover.
The transfer was not like Liverpool, whose usual model under FSG was not one that broke world records in the transfer market.
In fact, such agreements were made by clubs like Man City.
And it was a deal that citizens were desperate to make.
In the days before Van Dijk arrived at Anfield, reports suggested that City had won the race for his signature. One of those reports, released on Christmas Day, suggested that Pep Guardiola’s men had agreed to a £ 60 million deal for the Dutchman.
It is better that they have not.
City was interested, but Liverpool won the race … Now, more than two years after Van Dijk’s arrival at Anfield, City’s title rivals have benefited greatly from his addition and are still reaping the rewards.
It could have been so different if City landed Van Dijk instead: they would be the ultimate outfit, not only in the Premier League, but in world football as well.
The city has a remarkable team, with terrifying squad depth, and an elite defender like Van Dijk is the only thing missing to keep Guardiola’s side on the table for years to come.
And now Liverpool’s weakness is now that of City, which is trying to fill the void left by the late Vincent Kompany.
It’s also hard to imagine how the Reds would have been seriously competing for the title with City if Van Dijk was in sky blue.
Liverpool were reportedly looking elsewhere, while their focus remained firmly on the Southampton defender.
Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli and Jonathan Tah of Bayer Leverkusen were names in European leagues that were mentioned in reports when Liverpool failed to land their man on the first attempt.
It is extremely difficult to say how these two highly skilled defenders would have dealt with playing for the inexperienced Reds in the English top flight before.
Liverpool have now won three trophies in the past 12 months, and are on course to lift a fourth, but if Klopp hadn’t bought Van Dijk, it could have been a very different story.
The 2018/19 PFA Player of the Year has been Liverpool’s most prominent man for the past two seasons and will become a legend in club history if he can break the line to win his first Premier League title.
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