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'I think he's off to Liverpool' - Recently-retired forward opens up about in-demand ace
By Abigail Withey
Former Southampton centre-forward Brett Ormerod has delivered his opinion on Virgil van Dijk’s future at the club and has stated that he thinks he will join Liverpool this summer.
The 26-year-old centre-back has been tracked by big guns Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City as well as being strongly linked with Liverpool, who issued a public apology for their pursuit earlier in thesummer.
The Dutch defender has made his stance clear in previous weeks after he handed in a transfer request stating he was looking for different challenges.
However, Van Dijk was left in limbo after the Daily Echo revealed that Southampton hadn’t received any offers for the proven centre-back.
Ormerod, who retired from football last year, made it clear that he thinks van Dijk will move to the Merseyside club.
He said: “I think he’s off to Liverpool if I’m honest.”
“A player who is clearly upset and not giving his all for the club can have a detrimental effect on the squad,”he told Bwin news. “Southampton are a team that always have a great team spirit and bond.”
The ex-striker went on to talk about money and stated that players like van Dijk have too much power.
“Van Dijk is on a fair amount of money and there’s no doubt the club will get a huge profit if they sell him and players often seem to get their own way now,” he explained. “Perhaps there needs to be more of a balance between player and club power and the Bosman ruling has arguably put too much control in players’ hands.”
Jurgen Klopp will undoubtably be eager to secure a new defender, especially a centre-back with experience like van Dijk, following Liverpool’s unimpressive 3-3 draw against Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
The Reds take on Hoffenheim in Germany in their Champions League qualifiers on Tuesday night before hosting Crystal Palace at Anfield on Saturday in their second Premier League match of the season.
In other Liverpool news, Jordan Henderson has said that he can’t influence the Coutinho situation.
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