Virgil Van Dijk is more valuable to Liverpool than Philippe Coutinho ever was – Tom Collomosse
That’s the verdict of journalist Tom Collomosse, who believes the Dutchman is now worth double the £75m fee he commanded back in January.
The Reds currently hold a four point lead at the top of the Premier League table after an impressive first half of the campaign that has seen them remain unbeaten.
They have been solid defensively, conceding a mere seven goals in 18 games.
And Collomosse feels Van Dijk’s experience of winning the league with Celtic could also come in handy.
“I think the interesting thing with Van Dijk is he does have experience of winning titles,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast.
“Admittedly it was in Scotland where the standard was not so high, but there is a degree of pressure on you in Celtic, a knowledge that is required of how to get over the line.
“That could be important in the second half of the season, because you look at that squad, there ain’t many medals in there in serious leagues.
“They could quite easily argue if someone came in for [Van Dijk], we’re not talking until you offer us double and we’ll start negotiating at that point.
“I think Neymar distorted the market so much, didn’t he? That’s what Liverpool would ask if anyone came in for him.
“They sold Coutinho for 130 [million], well Van Dijk is probably more valuable to Liverpool now than Coutinho ever was.”
After Manchester City’s domination in 2017/18, this season’s title race should provide more drama as Liverpool and the champions go neck and neck.
Collomosse is intrigued to see how the Reds cope physically in the second half of the campaign, insisting an injury to a key player like Mohamed Salah could prove costly.