Man City & Liverpool to battle for Van Dijk

Manchester City and Liverpool are preparing £25 million bids for Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, according to De Telegraaf.

The Dutch publication claims that both Premier League title hopefuls have had every Saints match covered by their scouts for the past two months.

Positive reports have been fed back to the Etihad and Anfield respectively, with City and the Reds in the market for defensive reinforcements after seeing deficiencies in that area exposed over recent weeks.

Southampton, though, have Netherlands international Van Dijk tied to a long-term contract and will be under no pressure to sell when the transfer window re-opens in January.