Liverpool Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Christian Pulisic and Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool have been warned off pursuing Borussia Dortmund's Christian Pulisic by the Bundesliga club's sporting director, Michael Zorc.

MailOnline's Simon Jones recently reported that Liverpool were considering stepping up their pursuit of Pulisic following Philippe Coutinho's injury, with BVB only open to bids of around £25 million. 

However, Zorc has now told Liverpool there is no point them even attempting to bid for the 18-year-old American star, per Bild (via ESPN FC's Stephan Uersfeld): "It's not worth the effort for Liverpool."

Pulisic joined Dortmund as a 16-year-old in 2015, when Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was in charge at the Westfalenstadion.

The United States international is enjoying a breakthrough season at the club, having netted two goals and provided four assists in nine league appearances in 2016-17, per WhoScored.com:

It is little surprise that Liverpool are interested in him as, though predominantly a right-winger, he can play in multiple attacking positions and would fit well into Klopp's fluid system.

But the message from Dortmund is quite clear: Pulisic is not for sale.

He is contracted to BVB until 2019, and any Liverpool bid in January will clearly be rejected out of hand.

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

Elsewhere, Liverpool are reportedly leading the way to sign Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk, according to former Newcastle United striker Micky Quinn.

A number of clubs have been linked with the Saints defender—most recently Ronald Koeman's Everton—but Quinn, a Reds fan, believes Liverpool are the front-runners, per TalkSport (via Colin Harvey in the Daily Star).

"No, don't worry about Koeman," Quinn said. "Liverpool will blow them [Everton] out of the water. That's what I've been told, anyway."

Liverpool have looked irresistible going forward at times this season but remain inconsistent at the back.

Dutchman Van Dijk, 25, has been arguably the best centre-back in the Premier League this term and boasts numerous attributes that would make him a huge asset at Anfield, per StatsBomb.com's Ted Knutson:

Alongside Joel Matip—who has been excellent since his summer arrival at Liverpool from Schalke 04—Van Dijk could be the player the Reds need to shore up their back line as they bid for the Premier League title.