Virgil van Dijk was apparently aware that Manchester United had chosen Victor Lindelof over him in the 2017 transfer window, which meant he was free to join Liverpool six months later. The 30-year-old is currently regarded as one of the best in the game and an important member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
However, things could have turned out quite differently. Van Dijk’s colleague at St. Mary’s, Charlie Austin, recounted an odd conversation he had with the Netherlands international. We were sitting on the bench at Chelsea’s away game, and I asked him what was going on. I told him that United must have been interested in him.
“You know what, Chaz, it was between me and Victor Lindelof, and they signed Lindelof,” he explained. Like you, I was really taken back.”There was clearly chatter that he was going to go there in the summer, but instead, they went after Lindelof.”
Liverpool, who have previously won the Carabao Cup, is aiming for a quadruple. They’re in the FA Cup final, the Champions League semi-finals, and they’re just one point behind Manchester City in the Premier League.
Lindelof joined United for £30 million from Benfica a few months ago and has carved out a respectable career for himself at Old Trafford, despite the club’s recent troubles. Under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Swedish captain was a frequent starter, with the latter settling on Lindelof as Harry Maguire’s preferred partner.
Raphael Varane joined the club last summer and has taken Lindelof’s spot alongside captain Maguire. However, Lindelof, a former Real Madrid player, has struggled with injuries and has only started 25 league games. United are in sixth place in the Premier League and must win all three of their remaining games to avoid finishing with their lowest point total ever.
Lindelof believes it is critical to finish strong ahead of the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag in the summer. In United’s match program, he added, “I think it’s very, very vital for us to strive to do that.”
Obviously, this season hasn’t been good enough, and we, as players, must take responsibility for that. “All we want to do now is finish the season strong and win the remaining games.”
