The Liverpool manager has missed out on a key defensive signing as the club show an inability to learn from past mistakes in the transfer market
Transfers are not part of Peter Moore’s remit as Liverpool’s new chief executive and the club’s alleged tapping up of Virgil van Dijk predated his official start date in the job, but his first Premier League meeting in Harrogate on Thursday will have been awkward regardless. Southampton are not the only member club to regard an emissary of Fenway Sports Group with scepticism and suspicion.
Liverpool’s owners, including John W Henry and the chairman, Tom Werner, were heavily involved in the damaging decision to withdraw interest publicly in Van Dijk on Wednesday, 24 hours after Southampton complained to the Premier League of a clandestine approach and 48 hours after it emerged the Holland defender favoured a move to Anfield over Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.
Related: Liverpool drop interest in Virgil van Dijk after Southampton complaint
Related: How defenders’ transfer fees rocketed in quest for success | Ed Aarons
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