Liverpool round-up: Van Dijk won’t play at St Mary’s again; no interest in Barcelona stars; winger in demand

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Liverpool seem to be nearing a move for Southampton centre-back Virgil Van Dijk as manager Mauricio Pellegrino has revealed that the defender doesn’t want to play for the club again. The Independent quote the former Liverpool defender as discussing the situation. He said:

“The situation is the same. I can’t say no more, because the situation is the boy is aside of the team because he doesn’t want to play for us. I would like to bring the boy and to persuade him that he’s important for us and the club will not sell him. We are expecting the best for everyone, even for Virgil, but he doesn’t want to be part of the team.”

It seems inevitable that Van Dijk will be a Liverpool player come the end of the summer transfer window. The two clubs are clearly not close to an agreement and the Saints remain reluctant to sell the Dutchman despite his desire to leave.

However, two players who will not be moving to Merseyside are Rafinha and Andre Gomes. The Barcelona pair have both been linked, in part due to speculation around Philippe Coutinho, but the Liverpool Echo say that the Reds have no interest in either player this summer.

The club have reportedly been put off by the Brazilian’s injury record whilst Jurgen Klopp is not convinced that either player has sufficient quality to improve his squad. Klopp is clearly favouring a quality over quantity approach and these two players would not fit in with that policy.

It may also mean that young winger Ryan Kent leaves the club on loan in order to get regular game time having impressed in pre-season. TeamTALK claim that Gary Monk is hoping to take him to Middlesbrough, beating competition from his former club Leeds, after being frustrated in his pursuit of team-mate Sheyi Ojo.

Kent was one of the stars of the show for the club during their time in Germany playing in the Audi Cup as he was introduced against both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. He clearly made a big impression and Monk could look to capitalise on that.