Manchester City get slashed odds on signing Southampton’s van Dijk
By Chris Hughes
In the latest twist to the tale, Manchester City have seen their odds of signing Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk slashed by several bookmakers.
Despite strong links to Liverpool and Chelsea all summer, Manchester City have emerged as serious candidates to sign Virgil van Dijk – that’s according to several betting sites.
Pep Guardiola’s City have been linked with VVD before, but with Vincent Kompany, John Stones, Nicola Otamendi and even Eliaquim Mangala on the side’s books this season, a move looked unlikely.
The Citizens have spent in-excess of £100 million on just three full-backs already this summer, suggesting Guardiola isn’t in the market for any more defenders at this point in time.
However that hasn’t stopped several betting sites offering slashed odds on the Dutchman joining the title favourites, with odds as low as 3/1. For comparison, those are better odds than most bookmakers are offering for van Dijk to stay with Southampton for at least another year.
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Chelsea and Liverpool still have better odds of signing him, with Paddy Power offering odds of 11/5 and 8/13 respectively.
The 26-year-old has made his ambitions clear this summer, missing a lot of pre-season after being forced to train away from the first-team squad.
Despite spending most of 2017 out injured, van Dijk’s stock has only been on the rise as of late, with his valuation rising from £40 million to as high as £70 million in a matter of months.
Les Reed and co. have been stern this summer and are adamant that their team captain will remain at the club beyond this transfer window. Whether he will, remains to be seen.