Chris Kamara MBE has revealed that he told former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho to sign Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk before he even joined the Merseyside club.
Kamara made these stunning revelations on the BBC’s ‘Proper Football Podcast, where he was joined by Watford legend Troy Deeney.
The pair were discussing Van Dijk and the Dutchman’s impact on the league since making the blockbuster move to Liverpool in 2018 in a £75 million deal, a then-world-record transfer fee for a defender.
Deeney named Van Dijk one of the most formidable opponents he has ever faced in the Premier League.
Kamara asked Deeney, “You mention Virgil Van Dijk there; was he different?”
Deeney responded, “He was unbelievably good, six foot six, very quick, passed with both feet, very physical; he’s a Rolls Royce, isn’t he?”
Kamara added, “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, and he went to Liverpool instead.”
Van Dijk was an instant success at Anfield as the Dutchman wasted no time familiarising himself with his new surroundings.
The 31-year-old was an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s team that won the Champions League, a Premier League title, an FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.
Widely regarded as the best centre-back in world football during his peak years, former Saints striker Charlie Austin divulged intimate details of a private conversation between himself and Van Dijk.
Speaking on Talskport at the time, Austin let loose that he had a chat with Van Dijk and the Dutchman told him that the Red Devils had a choice between him and Victor Lindelof. United chose Lindelof, and the rest is history.
Austin remarked, “I remember at the back end of his Southampton career, we were on the bench together at Chelsea away; I asked him: ‘Come on Virg, what’s going on? Surely Man United must have been in for you?”
“He told me: ‘You know what, Chaz, in the summer, it was between Lindelof and me, and they signed Lindelof’. I was like: ‘You are joking!”
“I don’t know if anyone knows that. I couldn’t believe it; I was gobsmacked. There was talk in the summer that he was going to tell Virgil that Man Utd surely go there, but they’ve gone and taken Lindelof instead.”
🤷♂️ “At #SaintsFC I said to Virgil that surely Man Utd had to be in for him.”
😲 “Virgil told me it was between him & Victor Lindelof…”
🔴 “I’m not sure [if he wanted Utd move], his heart was set on #LFC.”
Charlie Austin reveals #MUFC chose to sign Lindelof over Van Dijk! 👀 pic.twitter.com/oWG9OSc0lj
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) January 25, 2021
United fans will forever wonder how different their fortunes would have been if the Glazers had made funds available to Mourinho to sign Van Dijk.
Just how different would the footballing landscape be?
One cannot help but imagine that Van Dijk would have significantly boosted United’s chances of fighting for top honours and silverware.
This revelation by Kamara also serves to underline just why the parasitic Glazers must be gotten rid of. That a player of Van Dijk’s quality was passed up on simply because they were keen on penny-pinching is an indictment of just how crushing their rule at Old Trafford has been.