Liverpool transfer news: Reds face competition from Barcelona for top transfer target

There is still some time to go before the winter transfer window opens but speculation is already rife. Reports from the Mirror reveal that Barcelona could compete with Liverpool for Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

The Southampton man was the talk of the town last summer as Liverpool incessantly approached his signature to shore up their defence, but they failed in getting their man. While they did strengthen their attack, Mamadou Sakho’s fallout with Klopp saw him leave which actually left the club in a worse position than last season.

Its likely Liverpool will try and sign van Dijk in the summer, but Barcelona could try to scupper a potential deal. The Blaugrana wanted to sign Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, but the Merseyside outfit did to Barcelona what Southampton did to them!

No love lost between Barcelona, Liverpool and Southampton…

Javier Mascherano and Luis Suarez have previously moved from Liverpool to Barcelona and Coutinho could be the next star to jump ship. Considering their good start to the season, they could be in a good position to make a massive bid come January, even though Coutinho will be cup-tied for the Champions League.

Barcelona’s interest in van Dijk is bad for the Reds because Southampton would prefer selling the Dutchman to a club outside England. Considering the history of transfers between the two clubs, their fans would think it behoves the club to sell him to Barca!

The Liverpool fans won’t be happy though as the club had the money and should have sealed the deal for van Dijk in the summer. Even if they do manage to sign him come January or even next summer, the ineptness of getting the deal done so late won’t please anyone, even more so after the start they’ve had in the League so far.