Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has insisted defender Virgil van Dijk is worth £50m and so Liverpool should be prepared to spend big to sign him.
The 25-year-old has been a solid acquisition for the Saints since his arrival from Celtic last year, and in turn has attracted the attention of the big boys in the Premier League, including the Reds, as reported by the Metro.
However, Le Tissier believes that he’s worth a signifiant fee and so if Liverpool are to continue their raids on Southampton, to add to the signings of Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne to name but a few in recent years, they’ll have to dig deep into their pockets.
“From what I have seen this season, I’d suggest it would take between £40-50m to get Virgil van Dijk away from Southampton,” he said, as reported by the Metro.
“I would be surprised if he was let go for anything less than that because he has signed a new long-term deal. Celtic will have a sell-on clause and rightly so. That’s good business by them.”
As with many Southampton fans, Le Tissier ultimately expects the Dutch international to leave as the club can’t offer him the assurances to match his short-term ambitions.
Nevertheless, he does go on to make a valid point in that he hopes that his former club are able to avoid losing him midway through the season, which in turn could disrupt Claude Puel’s positive start at St. Mary’s.
Whether or not Southampton are able to fend off interest in January remains to be seen, but if the club agree with Le Tissier’s assessment, then it will take a sizeable transfer fee for Jurgen Klopp to bolster his defence.