Chelsea’s signing of Virgil Van Dijk is “unlikely”, according to Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard, who tends to have well placed sources.
Alongside the usual news that has been fairly steady for Chelsea this window – Bakayoko deal close to completion, Lukaku deal almost done, Willy Caballero deal agreed – there was one other interesting nugget in today’s transfer update.
Johnson asserts that Chelsea are in the market for a centre back, which makes sense given their lack of depth at that position, but claims that Virgil Van Dijk will not be that man. Liverpool’s approach for the defender backfired horribly last week as they were reported by Southampton and forced to announce publicly they would no longer pursue him. Chelsea may end up with the same fate, but they have at least been warned in advance that the Saints will not be easy to deal with.
Let’s hope we don’t end up running away with our tails between our legs like our friends in Merseyside.
