According to the recent reports, Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho turned down the opportunity to sign Virgil Van Dijk back in the summer transfer window of 2017.
The Dutch defender recently went on to win the UEFA Player of the Year for last season beating the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo following a stellar full debut season with Liverpool.
Van Dijk joined Liverpool back in January 2018 for a then world-record £75m fee from south coast club Southampton and has since taken Jurgen Klopp’s Reds to another level, producing an endless series of commanding displays at the back helping Liverpool to win the Champions League.
But the most recent reports claim that Jose Mourinho had the chance to bring Van Dijk to Old Trafford during his reign, but turned down the prospect because he already signed Victor Lindelof in that transfer window and Ivorian center-back Eric Bailly in the season before.
During the course of that season, United finished above Jurgen Klopp’s outfit in the Premier League table, but their defensive frailty over the 2018-19 campaign demonstrated just how badly the Red Devils needed a defender with the caliber of Van Dijk.
United’s hierarchy eventually came to their senses this summer transfer window and signed English center-back Harry Maguire from Leicester City in a world record £80 million, a steely and imposing Premier League defender who brings a sense of thrust to things at the back.
The Red half of Manchester will be hoping that Maguire eventually has a similar impact that Van Dijk has had on a leaky Liverpool defense.
