A new report recently surfaced online revealing that Virgil van Dijk could have signed a deal to Manchester United before he made a move to Liverpool. The 28 years old Dutch professional footballer could have been playing as the centre-back for the Red Devils. However, the report claims that the deal did not push through because of this reason.
According to The Independent, Virgil van Dijk could have signed for the Old Trafford before Jose Mourinho said no to the deal. The Portuguese professional football coach reportedly sanctioned a move for Virgil van Dijk before the Dutch footballer transferred to the English Premier League club. It is worth noting that throughout Jose Mourinho's time at Manchester United, the team suffered at the back.
During his tenure, Jose Mourinho signed a couple of center-backs at the Old Trafford. These are Victor Lindelof and Eric Baily, but these two were not able to resolve this issue. And based on the latest report, it appears that he chose to make a move against Virgil van Dijk, which paved the way for the defender to move to Liverpool.
Virgil van Dijk secured a £75 million contract with the Merseyside club and has been a revelation to the entire league since he joined the team last January. The 28 years old Dutch defender has risen as one of the top contenders for the Ballon d'Or. Virgil van Dijk was also named as the Player of the Year of the PFA Players among a long list of individual awards in the past season.
The report also revealed that the scouting department of Manchester United has been preparing reports on a wide range of potential players but have been ignored. According to the report, the Red devils spend fortunes on some of the players but they are not as good as the players included in the reports of the club's scouting department. The report added that Jose Mourinho did not feel it is necessary to sign another centre-back at that time after acquiring Lindelof and Bailly for £75 million.
"Massive credit to all of my teammates, staff and my family." Virgil van Dijk paid tribute to his Liverpool teammates after beating Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award: https://t.co/G7dQU7COb8 pic.twitter.com/0Aj5pKgr8d — Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 30, 2019
But, months later, it turned out that Jose Mourinho changed his mind, he lobbied United's director Ed Woodward to get Harry Maguire. The Sheffield born footballer displayed impressive performance during the World Cup last year and became the subject of interest of the Old Trafford. Allegedly, the club made several bids to ink a deal with Maguire but it appears that Leicester was not convinced to let him go just yet.
Manchester United could have gotten Virgil van Dijk for £75 million and might have been able to solve its back issue. But, because of the alleged intervention of Jose Mourinho, the team did not only shell out £75 million, it cost them an additional £90 million to get Harry Maguire on the team after a year of negotiation with Leicester.
