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Arsenal hoping to beat Liverpool & Chelsea to signing of £60m-rated star

By on July 11, 2017

According to a report in the Daily Star, Arsenal are interested in signing Virgil van Dijk and are hoping to beat off competition from the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool to land the Southampton defender.

Arsene Wenger has signed striker Alexandre Lacazette and left-back Sead Kolasinac so far this summer but it looks as though the boss is looking to further strengthen his defensive options.

We finished last season playing three at the back and with Gabriel nursing a serious knee injury, Per Mertesacker entering his final year, Calum Chambers tipped to leave and Laurent Koscielny struggling with on-going Achilles issues, Wenger is eyeing another centre-back.

It seems he has an ambitious target in mind as the Daily Star are citing a report from The Sun that claims Arsenal have joined the chase to sign Virgil van Dijk this summer.

The Dutch international has developed in to arguably the best central defender in the Premier League over the past couple of years so obviously he’d be an excellent addition to the squad.

However, any deal isn’t going to be easy as Southampton are determined to hang on to their skipper while the Daily Star claim that Liverpool and Chelsea are still in the hunt for his services.

Liverpool were the early favourites and the newspaper says van Dijk remains keen on a move to Anfield despite the Reds being forced to make a public apology over their pursuit of the player.

The Express reported late last month that Chelsea were ready to pay £60m to sign van Dijk and while we do have more financial resources at our disposal this summer, that kind of money for a centre-back may be deemed out of reach.

READ: Wenger confirms interest in £45m attacker

Plus, Arsenal aren’t able to offer van Dijk the Champions League football that he desires so we may find it difficult to lure him to the Emirates even if we could get a deal agreed with the Saints.

Let’s see how things go but as much as I’d love to see the player come to Arsenal, I have a sneaky feeling van Dijk is still going to end up joining Liverpool later in the summer.