Jose Mourinho wanted Van Dijk at Man United, but 'the Glazers wouldn't give him the money'

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wanted to sign Virgil van Dijk before his move to Liverpool, but failed in his pursuit as the Glazers WEREN'T prepared to pay the huge transfer fee.

Van Dijk starred at Celtic before earning himself a move to the Premier League, with Southampton acquiring his services in 2015.

He continued to impress at St Mary's, attracting interest from the league's elite, including Liverpool and Man United.

Then-manager Mourinho had hoped to lure him to Old Trafford until the Glazers failed to sanction a transfer.

Jose Mourinho speaks with members of the Glazer family. Image: Alamy

That's according to Chris Kamara, who has revealed his exchange with the Portuguese boss over the pursuit of Van Dijk.

Speaking on the BBC Proper Football podcast, he said: "I can exclusively reveal that I told Jose [Mourinho] to take him to Manchester United and Jose said, 'These lot won't give me the money for him.' Yeah, and he went to Liverpool."

Of course, the Dutch defender eventually sealed a switch to Anfield in a deal worth £75 million.

And he's been an ever-present for Liverpool, winning the Premier League and the Champions League during his time at the club.

It's not the only anecdote linking Man United with Van Dijk as Charlie Austin opened up about a private conversation he had with the player whilst they were teammates at Southampton, revealing the Red Devils' interest.

"I remember the back end of his Southampton career we were on the bench together at Chelsea away," he said. "I sat there I said, ‘come on Virgil, what’s going on, surely Man Utd must’ve been in for you? Massive club in England, etc’

"He said, 'you know what Chaz, in the summer it was like between more or Lindelof and they signed Lindelof'. I was like, 'you are joking!' Nobody knows that, he told me that on the bench. I couldn’t believe it, I was just as gobsmacked as you.

"Obviously there was talk in the summer he was going to go there, then they’ve gone and taken Lindelof instead."

Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Manchester United, Jose Mourinho, Football

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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