Yesterday this site pointed out that a renewed press campaign seemed to be in the offing to unsettle Virgil Van Dijk, that seems to be the case as yet more subtle and not so subtle stories appear in the media.
Liverpool are a football club who have many friends in the media, they are also a club to whom their ex players and legends remain close to, so when they start commenting in the media you can bet your bottom dollar that they only do so if they are sure what they are saying will not upset Liverpool Football Club hierarchy.
They would not dare say something that would incur the wrath of LFC, hence you rarely see them comment on anything controversial involving the Liverpool team.
In fact it is assumed that LFC use the likes of Ian Rush and John Aldridge to say the things that they would like to but can't do so. They are all people who continue to live locally on Merseyside, they are also prominent in the Merseyside media.
So when John Aldridge blatantly encourages Virgil Van Dijk to force a move from Southampton by going on strike, it is easy for the neutral to assume that he is doing so with direct briefing from Liverpool, perhaps that is incorrect, but that is what not only Saints supporters but neutrals are thinking.
Aldridge who is a regular contributor to LFC TV, the club's official TV channel and therefore on the pay roll at Anfield makes the astonishing claim that the transfer to Liverpool could be revived if Virgil Van Dijk puts pressure on Saints to allow him to leave.
Quoted on Sundayworld.com Aldridge says.
"Tapping up goes on all the time in the game and even if Liverpool went a bit far in their pursuit of Van Dijk before they spoke to Southampton, I don’t believe this transfer story is dead in the water,"
"Van Dijk needs to make the next move and I reckon he will tell Southampton that he wants out and he wants to go to Liverpool.
"Players and their agents hold all the power these days and if he says he won’t kick another ball for Southampton and demands a move, it will happen."
"I don’t like the way the game has gone in some ways and players can hold clubs to ransom if they want a move and big money offers are coming in, but that the way of the world now.
"Let’s look at the facts here: Southampton paid £13m for this guy a couple of years ago and they could end up making a profit of around £40m on him.
"I believe Celtic have a sell-on clause in the contract that will give them a handy sum of cash, but Southampton will be in the money and the cash they get from selling Van Dijk could give their new manager a massive transfer kitty to work with.
"So I still see this transfer happening one way or the other and I certainly hope it does because I’d like to have seen a little more movement from Liverpool in the transfer market this summer."
This is seemingly yet another own goal by Liverpool and Saints could be heading straight back to the Premier League, although Aldridge was not speaking on LFC TV, being a contributor and as such a club employee and certainly one that would be close to the likes of Kenny Dalglish a former colleague still at the club, Saints would have a fair case for suggesting that this is at the behest of someone in the Liverpool hierarchy.
Certainly Aldridge would not make this sort of comment without some sort of official blessing, given the position that Liverpool are in with regard to tapping up players at other clubs, as I say ex Liverpool players do not cross their former club they only seek to help it.
Certainly Sundayworld.com were in no doubt as to the message, their headline of "Van Dijk may go on strike" actually suggests that Aldridge had told them the player was considering it. Certainly their inference of the interview suggests that they thought Aldridge was In The Know.
Their byeline of.
"Liverpool goal scoring great John Aldridge believes Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk holds all the power as he looks to force through a move to Anfield. "
This could be construed as incitement.
I would think that Saints are privately fuming in the last 24 hours as they watch a press campaign once again gathering speed, perhaps Liverpool launched the last one as they were confident, nay arrogant that they had their man in the bag and Saints would back down, now it seems they are not confident but desperate.