Shock And Awe As Liverpool Sign Virgil Van Dijk For Record-Breaking Fee

Virgil van Dijk's £75 million transfer from Southampton to Liverpool makes him the most expensive defender of all time. The centre-half has been a target for Jurgen Klopp for some time now and today he finally got his man.

It means Liverpool have now spent  £177m on Southampton players over the past 4 years. The list to make the move includes Adam Lallana £25m, Rickie Lambert £4m, Dejan Lovren £20m, Nathaniel Clyne £12m, Sadio Mane £30m, Virgil Van Dijk £75m.

Southampton with all the money they've received from Liverpool... pic.twitter.com/oNosjOC17R

— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) December 27, 2017

Dejan Lovren Southamptons best ever signing. Cost Liverpool 20 mill in 2014 but he has proved to be a big asset still for Southampton as his performances since have shot up the value of Van Dijk in Liverpools eyes. £75 million. 😳

— Stephen Elliott (@SleevesElliott) December 27, 2017

Van Dijk's fee is a part of on upward curve. Last summer Mendy and Kyle Walker were both signed for 50m by Manchester City. David Luiz rejoined Chelsea for the same fee, John Stones joined City for £47.5m. The transfer is also good news for Celtic, who are set to pocket a reported £7.5m sell-on fee.

I know Virgil van Dijk isn’t what a middle aged man should want for Christmas but thank you Santa 🎅😊😊

— John Bishop (@JohnBishop100) December 27, 2017

Virgil Van Dijk great signing for LFC 👍🏻

— John Hartson (@JohnHartson10) December 27, 2017

Van Dijk's arrival should at least answer the question whether it's Liverpool's defenders that are the problem or Klopp's system

— aidan o'hara (@oharaa) December 27, 2017

Virgil van Dijk is extremely overrated. Fee is astronomical at £75m. Could have got a Lewis Dunk for 1/10th of the price to probably do a similar job. #LFC

— Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) December 27, 2017

Van Dijk's fee is merely a symptom of an ever increasing market. The fees clubs demand, the wages players receive, the price fans pay, this is the nature of football as a business.

Delighted and honoured to have agreed to become a Liverpool FC player! ??? Today is a proud day for me and my family as I join one of the biggest clubs in world football! I can’t wait to pull on the famous red shirt for the first time in front of the Kop and will give everything I have to try and help this great club achieve something special in the years to come ⚽️ I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Les Reed, the board, manager, players, fans and everyone at Southampton. I will always be indebted to the club for giving me the opportunity to play in the Premier League and despite a difficult last few months I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Saints and have made friends for life at the club. Thank you for everything ?????? Thank you for all the messages of support ?? I’m now looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and getting started ? #YNWA

A post shared by Virgil van Dijk (@virgilvandijk) on Dec 27, 2017 at 10:08am PST

While difficult to imagine now, inflation dictates that ultimately this fee will be surpassed, and probably soon. Walker and Mendy's reign as the most expensive defender was short-lived and the way money is spent now suggests Van Dijk's may not last much longer.

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