Chris Kamara has revealed he advised Jose Mourinho to sign Virgil van Dijk while he was in charge of Manchester United.
A number of top clubs expressed interest in signing Van Dijk while he was at Southampton, but Liverpool won the race, bringing the Netherlands defender to Anfield in January 2018 in a deal worth £75m.
That has proved to be money well spent, with Van Dijk establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the world and helping Jurgen Klopp’s side win several titles, including the Premier League and Champions League.
Former Sky Sports reporter Kamara says he urged Mourinho to snap up Van Dijk during his reign at Manchester United and it appears the Portuguese boss was interested in a deal.
According to Kamara, Mourinho said United were not willing to cough up the money needed to sign Van Dijk, allowing Liverpool to strike a deal with fellow Premier League club Southampton.
‘I can exclusively reveal that I told Jose Mourinho to take Virgil van Dijk to Manchester United,’ Kamara – who recently received a MBE – said on the Proper Football podcast.
‘Jose said, “these lot [Man Utd] won’t give me the money for him”. And then Van Dijk went to Liverpool instead.’
Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney, who was a guest on the podcast, replied: ‘Manchester United fans are going to be in absolute tatters hearing that!’
The Watford legend added: ‘He’s unbelievably good, Van Dijk. He’s so tall and so quick. As well as being physical and very quick, he can pass with both feet, he’s a Rolls-Royce of a player. He’s just a level above everyone else in my opinion.’
Mourinho spent almost two years in charge at Manchester United, guiding the Red Devils to Europa League and EFL Cup glory in 2017 before results quickly fell away.
After leaving Old Trafford, the former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan boss spent another turbulent spell at Tottenham, before being sacked after 17 months in charge in April 2021.
Mourinho, 60, has spent the past year at Roma and got his hands on another trophy – the Europa Conference League – last season. Roma are currently fifth in Serie A and were drawn to face Feyenoord in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
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