Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk was close to having the opportunity to join Manchester United, according to a former team mate.
Van Dijk made the £75m switch to Anfield from Southampton in January 2018, and has gone on to establish himself as one of the best centre-backs in world football.
The Dutchman was linked with some of England’s biggest clubs prior to signing for Liverpool, with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea also rumoured to be interested in his services.
According to Van Dijk’s former Southampton team mate Charlie Austin, Manchester United was an option for him at one stage, but they instead decided to sign Victor Lindelof.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Austin said: “I remember at the back end of his Southampton career we were on the bench together at Chelsea, and I said to him ‘come on Virg, what’s going on? Surely Man United must have been in for you’.
“He said to me, ‘in the summer, it was between me or Lindelof’. I couldn’t believe it, I was gobsmacked. There was talk in the summer that he was going to go there and they got Lindelof instead.
“The manager was (Mauricio) Pellegrino at the time, and in the summer he (Van Dijk) was looking to go.
“I remember him (Pellegrino) getting everybody round in pre-season, everyone on the pitch including Virg, and just said ‘look lads, Virgil wants to go, the club are not allowing him to go, so he says he’s not going to play so he’s not going to train with us’, in front of everyone.
“He (Van Dijk) was gobsmacked, there was no heads up from the manager or anything. It was more down the line of stamping his authority.
“Two days the later transfer window shut and Virg was starting again on the Saturday.
“He apologised to the lads, but we just said ‘Virg, we understand, you were linked with Liverpool and you wanted to go, it’s fine by us’, we were just happy that he was here because of the quality that he brought.”
Asked whether Van Dijk would have moved to Man United had the chance come along, Austin replied: “I’m not sure, I think he had his heart set on going to Liverpool”.
