Liverpool have a hidden Jude Bellingham transfer advantage from ‘big’ Virgil van Dijk similarity

Virgil van Dijk could have joined Manchester City or Chelsea rather than Liverpool. It’s one of football’s great ‘what if?’ scenarios, and a disturbing alternate reality for Reds fans to confront. Van Dijk sealed his move to Anfield in late 2017, the same year that Chelsea won the Premier League under Antonio Conte, and Pep Guardiola assembled his centurions. 

So why did he turn them both down (via Football London) to join Jürgen Klopp’s side? "The reason I chose Liverpool is I really wanted to play for a club that lives and breathes football, and also the project,” he told The Overlap.

“In the end when I spoke to Jürgen Klopp, the message was also what he wants from me and what he wants from me in the future was something that made me even more hungry to come here. “I think everyone from the outside world felt there were a couple of pieces missing towards the success that Liverpool could have again. It’s never guaranteed but he saw that I was definitely a piece to the puzzle.”

In short, then, Van Dijk succumbed to the unique allure of Anfield, but was also convinced by Klopp’s sporting vision, and believed he could be one of the players who re-established Liverpool as a European superpower. But the Dutchman then pointed to another intriguing factor in his era-defining decision.

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“The importance he put in me and who I was going to be was definitely a big boost. ‘We want to get you or we don’t get anyone.’ That was a big message for me.” Liverpool, to recap, first tried to sign Van Dijk in the summer of 2017 before Southampton issued a complaint about alleged tapping-up.

That forced the Reds to apologise and, temporarily at least, end their interest in the former Celtic man. They might have feared that Van Dijk would be lured to Stamford Bridge or The Etihad, but it seemed he truly he had his heart set on Liverpool.

Likewise, the Reds had drawn up a shortlist that also included Aymeric Laporte, Kalidou Koulibaly and José María Giménez, two of whom would later move to the Premier League, but they refused to compromise.

They wouldn’t sign a centre-back in the summer and while that did result in short-term pain, it also allowed them to capture their top target in the winter. In the end, the ‘Van Dijk or bust’ policy proved to be a resounding success.

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But five years on, Liverpool have faced criticism for their obsession with ‘the one’, with Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham now cast as the midfield equivalent of Van Dijk. Indeed, Klopp said publicly last summer that the only problem with Bellingham was that Borussia Dortmund were unwilling to sell him (via the ECHO).

And so, Liverpool decided to wait a year rather than making an imperfect ‘plan B’ addition in the middle of the park, a gamble that has quite clearly backfired. Where once they appeared proudly resolute, now they just look self-destructively stubborn.

The Reds will still insist that certain players, those with the potential for a Van Dijk or Alisson-esque impact, are worth waiting for. But another benefit of their approach, one that’s perhaps been overlooked, is how it makes the player feel.

Liverpool are by no means the only club desperate to land Bellingham, of course. Real Madrid view him as ‘the golden thread’ of their next generation, as per Sky Sports’ Melissa Reddy, while Manchester City see him as key to the team’s evolution in midfield.

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But you get the sense that it’s not ‘Bellingham or bust’ for those two clubs, like it is for Liverpool. Indeed, both spent big on new midfielders last summer, with Real signing Aurélien Tchouaméni for £85.3m and Manchester City landing Kalvin Phillips for £45m.

Liverpool have a hidden Jude Bellingham transfer advantage ?

Liverpool, who have reportedly ‘put in the heaviest work over a long period behind the scenes to pierce the player’s decision-making process’, have pinned all their hopes on him. If Manchester City or Real Madrid miss out, it will be a blow, but you sense there will be another prospective superstar waiting in the wings.

Liverpool will make Bellingham feel more important than any of his other suitors and, in a generational transfer battle, that could be the difference. Just ask Van Dijk.