Former Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov wants Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt at Old Trafford, and reckons Virgil van Dijk can help persuade the teenager to sign…
The retired Bulgarian striker thinks the fact van Dijk partners de Ligt for the Netherlands will mean conversations about the Premier League will have taken place – and that de Ligt could be more interested in a United transfer as a result.
“One player I would love to see at Old Trafford is Ajax defender, Matthijs de Ligt, although I know every big club in Europe is after him,” he told Betfair, cited in the Daily Mail.
“I watched him play against Real Madrid and he looks the real deal – so confident and assured for a player of his age.
“Having his international team-mate Virgil Van Dijk already in the Premier League could be a boost for any English team chasing de Ligt.
“The Liverpool man will be telling him how good the league is and that can make a real difference to where you choose to go.”
Surely van Dijk will be telling de Ligt about Jurgen Klopp and the brilliance of Anfield and not Liverpool’s most bitter rivals?!
The centre-backs know each other through playing for the Netherlands national team, and Berbatov feels Van Dijk will already be talking to the 19-year-old about coming to the Premier League.
Berbatov, via the Metro, said: “Having his international team-mate Van Dijk already in the Premier League could be a boost. The Liverpool man will be telling him how good the league is and that can make a real difference to where you choose to go.”
If he is telling him how good the league is in England, then he certainly won’t be advising him to go elsewhere.
With Dejan Lovren potentially moving on in the summer having had a difficult campaign in terms of injuries, another defender will surely be a priority for Michael Edwards this coming transfer window.
De Ligt has already spoken in glowing terms about Van Dijk recently, so hopefully, he fancies joining up with him at club level too.
De Ligt said a couple of weeks ago: “Virgil is a player who has experience in the top leagues. Of course, you want to learn from him. It’s very useful to play next to him in the Dutch team.”
De Ligt is a dream potential signing for any club, us included, but the reality is he’s not really a necessity.
We have Joe Gomez, who before his injury, was performing just as well as the lauded Dutchman. At 21-years-old, Gomez has a similarly high potential ceiling and is not someone who should be knocked down our pecking order due to the arrival of a big money signing.
Although he’s injury prone, we also have Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren, both of whom have proved to be able partners to van Dijk. After all, Liverpool’s backline is the tightest in Europe’s top five leagues – so de Ligt – especially for the money he’d cost, isn’t a priority.
Instead, we’d like Klopp to bolster the offence with another top-notch wide attacker to take the load off the front-three.
Nicolas Pepe from Lille is our first-choice.