Liverpool have received a boost in their hopes of signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton after Barcelona cooled their interest in the centre-back.
The Southampton centre-back was in the radar of the Catalan giants, who are in the market for a defender in the new year.
Van Dijk’s potential switch to Liverpool was the transfer saga of the summer, with the Reds having to publicly apologise to the Saints for illegally approaching the player.
But the rumours refused to dry up and the Netherlands international was still heavily linked with making a move to Anfield.
However, Van Dijk stayed put at Southampton and Barcelona were then credited with showing an interest in the defender.
relatedNewsStory
However, Barcelona do not look likely to oppose Liverpool for Van Dijk.
Technical director Robert Fernandez is against the move as he is not convinced about Van Dijk’s qualities and feels the 26-year-old is too expensive, according to Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo.
And it seems the Spanish giants have now turned their focus towards Van Dijk’s compatriot Matthijs de Ligt, who plays for Ajax.
