Paul Ince: £75m was a steal for Virgil van Dijk – He’s a future Liverpool captain

Everyone is talking about the money Liverpool have spent on Virgil van Dijk, and that’s nothing to do with him. That’s what you expect now when you want to buy the best players, it’s just the way the market is.

He is one of the best players in the world in his position, and that’s why he’s gone for so much – simple.

When you look at the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United, all of those sides should have been in the market for him and would benefit from him in their side.

Not only that, but Van Dijk talks, he marshals and he organises. That’s something that has been desperately missing from the club for a while.

😁🤙🏽⚽️ @LFC pic.twitter.com/ca2CHBlash

— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) January 10, 2018

You look at him, and you see a future Liverpool captain. He’s a player that you can imagine Klopp will want to play week-in, week out, which is important for a skipper.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see that if Jordan Henderson wasn’t playing or wasn’t in the role any longer, Van Dijk would take over.

He has every single quality that a captain should have.

Klopp has a title-winning team on his hands

They have been leaking goals for fun and Van Dijk’s the exact kind of player Jurgen Klopp needed to bring in to address those issues. That’s impressive – you often see at big clubs that they will bring in a marquee signing rather than tackling the problems they have head-on.

He is one of the final pieces of the jigsaw Klopp wanted. A signing like this can take be the difference for his team and can take them to another level.

If you’re a fan, you don’t care about how much he cost. He could have cost £7m or £75m. All they care about is the fact he’s a top player and he’s going to add to the team.

Klopp isn’t in the position where he can go and spend £300m+ in one go. With a strong Philippe Coutinho replacement, they’re going to be a serious force next season.

Alexis Sanchez would be the ideal replacement for Coutinho

Now that they have secured Van Dijk, Liverpool need to focus on a replacement for Coutinho. If they really want to think of themselves as one of the big boys, then they have to rival City and United for Alexis Sanchez.

I’ve seen fans suggesting that Adam Lallana could be the solution, but he’s just not on the same level.

You simply cannot compare the two. Maybe he will prove me wrong and we will find that out in the next two or three months, and they won’t need to replace him, but I doubt it.

He’s has got fantastic feet, and is a great player, but he would need to score more goals to take Coutinho’s place.

One replacement for Coutinho that would be incredible would be Sanchez. He’s been linked to both Liverpool and Manchester City, and if they could get him it would be unbelievable.

He could literally walk into the team and fill the hole that he has left, easily.

I’d love to see it happen. At the minute, it looks like he’s leaning toward City, but the fact that Liverpool are in the mix for him speaks volumes. It shows the intentions the club have and where they want to be.

If they were to get him – and it is a big ‘if’ – you have to say that they’re title contenders for next year. It would be a real statement signing.