£ 75M VAN DIJK JOINS KEITA AT THE KLOPP MASTERPLAN TO STRENGTHEN THE LIVERPOOL COLUMN

By AYOADE JAMIU

The Dutch international signs a five and a half year agreement under a strong transfer strategy for Merseysiders

Towards the end of the 2016-17 year as Liverpool pushed the finish in the top four to crystallize their lead when Jürgen Klopp, the draft of his recruitment strategy for the new campaign became apparent.

His first season of blinking and blinding highlighted the team's electrifying potential, but his stumble extended earlier this year solidified the idea that reinforcements were demanded.

There were four main objectives: to reduce the addiction of Sadio Mane by adding another rapid advance that could terrify the defenses and make a difference in the last third; elevate the dynamism in the center of the field; to make sure there was more competition in the team; and bring a consummate and dominant central center.

Mohamed Salah, Naby Keita, who joined Merseysiders last summer, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain reviewed the three top priorities.

On Wednesday, the last part of this plan was framed, albeit belatedly. Virgilio van Dijk is now the most expensive defender in the world after Liverpool and Southampton have signed a contract for 75 million pounds, which will officially move to Anfield on January 1 in one year and five and a half worth £ 180,000 per week .

Liverpool Football Club can confirm that they have reached an agreement with Southampton for the transfer of Virgil van Dijk.

The four aforementioned players eclipsed the club's record $ 35 million to discard the theory that Fenway Sports Group owners are unwilling to support a manager in the market.

The conspiracy theorists who suggest that the 26-year-old is about to turn his head are merely a sign that Philippe Coutinho moved to Barcelona and his transfer fee is erased in advance. at the beginning of June, long before the Catalans approached the Brazilian, who did not arrive until the middle of the following month.

Salah, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain and the Dutch as well as the entire program before the departure of Neymar for Paris Saint-Germain has led Barça to highlight their long-term plans to continue Coutinho.

The question is whether the masterful game creator will always be at Liverpool when the winter window closes, but that is not uncertain is the Klopp strategy to strengthen the backbone of the club.

Keita and Van Dijk, who dominated Barcelona and Manchester City - despite the insistence of different Pep Guardiola - respectively, to align German, are at the heart of this Master Plan is expected to continue.

Both are examples of the Reds refusing to scroll through a list of goals and settle for the name's difficult to achieve anything - regardless of the cost or time and effort required to get there.

For too long, it was the opposite for Liverpool. And for so long, the club had to rectify a list composed of second, third, fourth option and a deficiency in real quality.

However, on Boxing Day, Klopp was able to line up a bench of Loris Karius, Dejan Lovren, Joe Gomez, James Milner, Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane and Dominic Solanke. This is the case of three international English, Jordan Henderson, Nathaniel Clyne and Daniel Sturridge, injured hamstrings, back and muscles, while the Spaniard Alberto Moreno also has an ankle problem.

He throws a few starters from Keita and Van Dijk into the mix, and Liverpool will not only have a formidable XI, but also a phenomenal reserve group.

Of course, it's also not a potion to heal the club's weaknesses, but it reinforces the core areas that Klopp is still trying to strengthen.

While Emre Can is more likely to leave as a free agent at the end of the season - Juventus is in pole position to sign - and Coutinho's stay at Merseyside now feels temporary after five years of service, Liverpool has plans to strengthen the center of the field.

Leon Goretzka, who has his elite club selection with his Schalke contract expiring this summer, has been under study for a long time and is ready to reveal his fate next month.

The imposing "sergeant" Lazio Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, has also followed, but the Serie A team is reluctant to let him go, hoping for a commission of about 90 million if she does, then that the player insisted that he is happy in Italy.

Manchester United, Juventus and PSG also explored the 22-year-old, who said in January: "Ibrahimovic is my favorite player his coach, Mourinho is the best manager in the world, is smart and just great."

Liverpool has made a lot of recognition in the center of the park, where there are several strong options that marry their stylistic requirements.

In a sensational attack, Thomas Lemar preferred to move to Anfield rather than linked to Arsenal in the summer, and Monaco insists that will not be on the market next month, if they reduce their estimate of £ 92 million French season down, he should stay in the mix.

Neither was the defensive assessment, José Giménez, Aymeric Laporte and Manuel Akanji being just three interesting candidates.

You must also make a decision in the porters department; the area where Liverpool still does not collaborate with Manchester and Chelsea clubs.

Clear Keita and Van Dijk in difficult circumstances deserves to be applauded and recognized. However, as Klopp always points out, celebrating what you have done is not as important as making sure you are ready for the next success.

Thus, at the beginning of 2018-19, the core of Liverpool should be as strong as the director's resolution to continue to revive them nationally and continentally.