Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk is worth over £100million in today’s transfer market, according to Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth.
The Netherlands international joined the Reds for £75million from Southampton last January but that world-record transfer fee for a defender looks set to be smashed by Manchester United in their reported £80million swoop for Leicester’s Harry Maguire [BBC Sport].
Van Dijk is arguably the best centre-back in world football and although Maguire’s going to cost more than the Dutchman, Sheth claims that it’s nothing to do with quality and solely down to how the market works.
“Leicester have gone with the market value of that price and everyone is suddenly saying ‘he’s gone for a world-record fee for a defender, how can he be more than what Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk?’,” Sheth said on Sky Sports News on Friday night [07:51pm].
“It’s the market. 18 months ago it was £75million and 18 months ago, had Harry Maguire gone from Leicester to Manchester United, what would the price have been? It wouldn’t have been £80million.
“If you look at the current market now, Virgil van Dijk, you could argue, would be in excess of £100million.”
OPINION
Forget £100million, van Dijk is surely worth over £200million to Liverpool right now. In fact, there’s no way you can put a price on how much he is worth to them because the Dutchman, and a couple of other tweaks and signings, are what played a major factor in the Reds winning their sixth European title last season and almost winning the Premier League for the first time. Van Dijk is a colossus of a defender and he’s arrival at Liverpool turned the Merseyside club from the nearly-men to a team that everyone in Europe is scared to play against. Yes Maguire is going to cost Man United more money than what van Dijk did for Liverpool, but that doesn’t mean he’s better. Leicester have done well to get that much money from United for the England international. Maguire’s a good centre-back and should improve the Red Devils’ defence. But you wouldn’t see him getting into the Liverpool backline. Jurgen Klopp has the best defence in the world.
