Van Dijk told to strike to force Liverpool move

Daniel Storey

Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has advised Virgil van Dijk to go on strike in order to force a move to Liverpool.

Liverpool were thought to be close to signing Van Dijk, only to be forced into issuing a humbling apology after Southampton threaten action over tapping up.

That was supposed to be the end of Liverpool’s interest, but former striker Aldridge believes going on strike would be Van Dijk’s best course of action. Ballsy.

“Tapping up goes on all the time in the game and even if Liverpool went a bit far in their pursuit of Van Dijk before they spoke to Southampton, I don’t believe this transfer story is dead in the water,” Aldridge told the Sunday World.

“Van Dijk needs to make the next move and I reckon he will tell Southampton that he wants out and he wants to go to Liverpool.

“Players and their agents hold all the power these days and if he says he won’t kick another ball for Southampton and demands a move, it will happen.

“I don’t like the way the game has gone in some ways and players can hold clubs to ransom if they want a move and big money offers are coming in, but that the way of the world now.

“Let’s look at the facts here: Southampton paid £13m for this guy a couple of years ago and they could end up making a profit of around £40m on him.

Here’s our take: That is a bloody awful suggestion that Aldridge would never make if Liverpool weren’t the club trying to sign Van Dijk.