John W. Henry Urged to Sign Virgil van Dijk by Liverpool Fan at Red Sox Game

A Liverpool fan urged club owner John W. Henry to sign Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk in the January transfer window while he was attending a Boston Red Sox game.

Twitter user ArmeniaJFT96 posted a video of the incident at Fenway Park:

Per the Mirror's Matt Lawless, the fan shouted to Henry, who was several rows in front of him and also owns the Red Sox: "Van Dijk in January. It's the right thing to do. He wants to play for us."

The Reds tracked the Dutchman throughout the summer, but not even £70 million was enough to tempt the Saints into selling him.

Liverpool's only defensive addition in the summer was left-back Andy Robertson, though, as not only did they fail to secure Van Dijk, but they did not appear to consider alternatives to him at centre-back.

Writer Joel Rabinowitz believes the Reds should have pursued targets other than just Van Dijk:

Football writer Joseph Musker called on them to do the same when the January transfer window opens:

Failing to bring in a centre-back this summer was a mistake that has already proved costly, and Henry will be well aware of the need to improve the situation after the 5-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City and letting slip a lead in the 2-2 draw with Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Landing Van Dijk in the middle of the season could be even more difficult than it was in the summer, though much might also depend on what kind of role he's able to play at St Mary's in the coming months.