The Premier League is to ask Liverpool for their observations after receiving a complaint from Southampton alleging that the Anfield club made an illegal approach to Virgil van Dijk.
Southampton contacted the Premier League yesterday and it emerged that they fear Van Dijk met the Liverpool manager without permission before deciding that he wanted to join Jürgen Klopp’s side.
There were claims last night that the alleged meeting between Klopp and Van Dijk took place in Blackpool and was followed by a series of text messages from Klopp. Liverpool did not comment.
The involvement of the Premier League does not amount to a “tapping-up” investigation but it will try to establish whether there is any validity in Southampton’s concerns.
Van Dijk is one of Europe’s most sought-after defenders with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City chasing his signature. Southampton will want to establish whether there were other alleged meetings between the player and clubs chasing him.
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It is believed that the 25-year-old Holland centre back thinks Anfield is the best place for his career to progress. Southampton are unhappy at the suggestion, claiming that Van Dijk had not given them any such indication. They harbour concerns that Klopp has been pivotal in persuading the player to turn his back on interest from Chelsea and City.
The south-coast club have also maintained that Van Dijk is not for sale and, because he has five years remaining on his contract, they are under no pressure to let him go.
The development will complicate Liverpool’s pursuit of Van Dijk, even though they are prepared to pay about £60 million for the player, who has not played since January because of an ankle injury. That fee would be a world record for a defender, eclipsing the £50 million paid to Chelsea by Paris Saint-Germain for David Luiz in 2014.
Liverpool have plundered Southampton in the past, recruiting Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Sadio Mané, Nathaniel Clyne and Rickie Lambert over the past three years.
It is not the first time that Liverpool have found themselves embroiled in such controversy, having been fined £20,000 by the Premier League after being found guilty of “tapping up” Middlesbrough’s Christian Ziege in 2000. They had to fend off a charge from Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 over a reported pursuit of Robbie Keane, a complaint that Spurs withdrew.
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Liverpool are serving a two-year ban on signing academy players — the second year suspended — after they accepted making an illegal approach to a 12-year-old Stoke City player in April.
