Virgil Van Dijk has empathised with Liverpool fans who are expressing concerns over the lack of transfer activity going on in the club.
Liverpool are undergoing a big squad overhaul for the 2023/24 season. Six players including captain Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino have exited the club while only Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been brought in as replacements.
With less than a week to the start of the new Premier League season, there are no signs of any new additions.
At the moment, the club is locked in a back and forth with Southampton over Romeo Lavia, which has infuriated a lot of the club’s fans. Former Liverpool defender and Premier League broadcast pundit Jamie Carragher hit out at the club’s ownership for the way they have treated this summer’s transfer activity.
Commenting on a report posted on Twitter/X that the Reds have had another £45 million bid rejected by the Saints who are now competing in the EFL Championship, Carragher wrote: “This is embarrassing. If you don’t think he’s worth £50m move on. If you really want him, pay it.”
He then chastised the club for not attempting to make a move for Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo, who is looking to exit the AMEX. Chelsea are the club leading the race for his signature but the Seagulls look unwilling to sell to them. Carragher believes that Liverpool could have a chance with the Ecuadorian’s transfer and that they should be all in.
“Also not sure why LFC aren’t in for Caicedo,” his comment continued. “Yes it’s a lot of money but Liverpool got big money for JH [Jordan Henderson] and FAB [Fabinho].”
The pundit’s comments were representative of all the sentiments that Liverpool fans hold.
Van Dijk, who became the club’s first team captain after Henderson moved to Saudi Arabia, was asked about his club’s transfer affairs. The Dutchman showed understanding of the fans’ sentiments. “Yeah, I can definitely understand it. I’m not a very negative person, so obviously it’s not in my mind to think like that,” he began in response to the question posed by journalists to him.
“But when a lot of players are leaving – your captain and vice-captain – and at the moment there are only two incomings… and the way we have been playing, in possession really good but defensively not as good, I can understand some people having doubts.
“Let’s see if more players are coming in, and then we have to be ready again for a long season. It will be very tough if we look at the teams around us, but we want to be up there again, we want to be challenging.”
The transfer window closes on 1 September 2023 and Liverpool need three more signings to find stability at least. It remains to be seen how FSG, owners of the club, will handle the upcoming weeks.
