Spanish media up to old tricks with Virgil van Dijk-Real Madrid transfer claim

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The Spanish media have a knack for trying to stir the pot before a match, and Virgil van Dijk has been the subject of wild claims hours before Liverpool face Real Madrid. Here we are, hours away from Liverpool facing Real Madrid in the Champions League, and the Spanish media are up to their old tricks.

However, their bid to create any disruption is wasted when it comes to Van Dijk, who proudly stated after signing a new two-year deal in April that it was “was always Liverpool.” Diario AS, a Madrid-based paper, however, would have you believe that the 34-year-old “fought tooth and nail” to try and sign for Real Madrid last season. Jose Felix Diaz audaciously penned that Van Dijk’s “agents contacted Spanish representatives to try and establish a direct connection with Real Madrid and open a door that had always remained closed.” • READ: Trent Alexander-Arnold mural vandalised Van Dijk’s extension was then phrased as having “waited until almost the last minute before finally accepting” Liverpool’s terms, with Van Dijk left “hoping” Real Madrid would come to the table.

There is no other way to sign off than to use the captain’s words from when his new contract was announced: “It was always Liverpool. “It was always in my head, it was always the plan and it was always Liverpool.