Virgil van Dijk to Transfer to Liverpool from Southampton for Rumoured £75M

Liverpool on Wednesday agreed a deal with Southampton for Virgil van Dijk, allowing the coveted centre-back to move to Anfield on January 1, per a statement on their official website.

Things have accelerated between the Premier League clubs, with Jeremy Wilson of the Daily Telegraph reporting the Reds are ready to pay £75 million, a world-record fee for a defender.

Van Dijk has established himself as one of the best central defenders in European football during his time in the top flight, and Jurgen Klopp will feel as though his club have pulled off a significant coup by completing this acquisition.

It also ends a brief transfer saga, with the Merseyside club keen on Van Dijk during the summer but forced into an apology after Southampton threatened an official complaint.

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The 26-year-old moved to Southampton in 2015 from Celtic having thrived in Scotland. While the Premier League was always going to be a step up for the Dutchman, he relished the challenge at St Mary's Stadium.

When Van Dijk is fit, he dominates in the air, cuts out danger in the penalty area with superb instincts and is adept when it comes to timing tackles.

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Additionally, he's a fantastic distributor. When given space, the Netherlands international can roam forward, and he can also thread passes into midfield or ping long balls out to the flanks.

A move to Liverpool will pose new challenges, especially given Klopp's preference for his team to commit its full-backs forward and leave the central defenders isolated.

Klopp will help Van Dijk to continue developing his game after signs the Oranje star was on his way to becoming a leader with the Saints. Given his talent, temperament and age, Liverpool supporters will be expecting their new centre-back to be their defensive talisman for years to come yet.

Having already agreed to sign RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita next summer, Klopp is getting serious about making Liverpool a more convincing title contender moving forward.