Bharath Rammr
Virgil van Dijk has become one of the most wanted players in European football at the moment. Following impressive performances with Southampton, the Dutchman is widely expected to leave the St Mary’s stadium even as early as in June. A number of clubs have been linked with his signature with Manchester United being rated as one of the front-runners. However, Chelsea have slowly edge to the Red Devils in the race according to the latest reports from the Sun.
The blues were amongst the late entrants to show interest in the 25-year-old, who has been at Southampton since 2015. The defender was a £15 million signing for the club and it looks like Southampton stand to make yet another healthy profit, as Virgil van Dijk could go for around £40 million given the bidding war expected between Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City.
Southampton have sold in a number of top players over the years and they have gone on to experience good success at their respective clubs. United have been desperate for a top-class central defender for quite a while. Even though the club seems to have stumbled upon the unlikely partnership between Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo in recent weeks, Mourinho ultimately sees Eric Bailly as the first choice defender. Bringing him a partner with the world-class level possessed by the Ivory Coast international would be the priority number one for the Red Devils.
Apart from being linked with van Dijk, United have also secured interest in Jose Fonte given that he shares the same agent as boss Mourinho – Jorge Mendes. Little was known about van Dijk when he moved to Celtic in the summer of 2013 for around £ 3 million. After an impressive two years in the Scottish Premier League, it was manager Ronald Koeman who brought him to the English Premier League.
Since then, Southampton have been recognised as one of the best defensive teams in the division. Even this season, the trend has continued even though the club overall are 7th in the table. Southampton have conceded 16 goals in the 17 league matches, a record bettered only by Chelsea and Tottenham.
Incredibly, Chelsea are keen on signing the player, as Antonio Conte has made him a priority number one as well. The blues are reportedly ready to make him as one of the back three alongside David Luiz and Gary Cahill. Even though Azpilicueta has been doing a fine job as of now, Conte has seen a number of teams already tried to take advantage of the Spaniard’s disadvantage when it comes to hitting the ball. A right back by nature, Azpilicueta has been doing a fine job for Chelsea but he is expected to be moved to a right-wing position replacing Victor Moses.
