Liverpool Transfer News: Virgil van Dijk, Sam McQueen Double Swoop, Top Rumours

Liverpool are reportedly preparing to raid Southampton once again and make a £40 million move for Saints pair Virgil van Dijk and Sam McQueen in January. 

Per Alex Crook in the Sun, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp sees Dutchman Van Dijk as the man to bolster his weak defence, and 21-year-old McQueen as a solution to his left-back issues.

Crook added that McQueen, a Saints academy graduate, is stalling on signing a contract extension at St. Mary's Stadium with his current deal set to expire in the summer, so he could be a realistic and good-value target for Liverpool.

Van Dijk, though, signed a six-year extension with Southampton to 2022 in May and will have a huge price tag attached to him following a stellar start to the season.

Per ESPN FC's Iain Macintosh and Yahoo Sport's Liam Canning, the 25-year-old Netherlands international has been arguably the Premier League's best centre-back so far this season:

He was brilliant again on Saturday as Southampton held Liverpool to a 0-0 draw, a result which saw the Reds drop off the top spot to second place in the Premier League table following the rest of the weekend's action.

The goalless result ended a run of four straight wins in all competitions for Liverpool, but it was also only the second time in 12 league matches this season they have kept a clean sheet.

While Klopp has been widely hailed for the attacking style he has introduced at Liverpool, the Reds are still conspicuously shaky at the back, as they have been for some time.

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They have conceded 14 goals in 12 Premier League games in 2016-17, five more than leaders Chelsea, three more than third-placed Manchester City, two more than Arsenal and six more than Tottenham Hotspur.

In the bottom half of the table, the Saints and Middlesbrough boast a better defensive record than Liverpool.

In summer addition Joel Matip, Klopp looks to have added a competent centre-back to his defensive ranks, but his regular partner in the middle of Liverpool's back line, Dejan Lovren, remains error prone, as he showed again recently against Crystal Palace, per the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce:

Croatian Lovren has improved this season, but the addition of Van Dijk to Klopp's squad would give the Reds defence much-needed steel and composure and make them far tougher to score against.

McQueen, meanwhile, is breaking through into the Saints first team and would provide necessary cover at left-back, where James Milner has been forced to play this season as Klopp has lost faith in the erratic Alberto Moreno, per Crook.

In the last two years, Liverpool have bought Sadio Mane, Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert from Southampton, and it seems they are ready to return to their most fruitful source of transfer targets for defensive recruits.