Virgil van Dijk's private Man United transfer chat was leaked by his ex-team-mate

Virgil van Dijk's career path could have been drastically different if Manchester United hadn't passed on him in 2017, according to former teammate Charlie Austin.

Van Dijk began his professional career at Groningen in 2011, then moved to Celtic in 2013, and eventually joined Southampton in 2015. Two years later, he made the switch to Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, where he has remained a key player.

However, Austin revealed in a 2021 talkSPORT interview that Van Dijk's career might have taken a different turn if United hadn't overlooked him. Austin recalled a conversation with Van Dijk during a match against Chelsea, saying: "I remember the back end of his Southampton career, we were on the bench together at Chelsea away.

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"I sat there I said, 'Come on Virgil, what's going on, surely Man United must've been in for you? Massive club in England, etc'. He said, 'You know what Chaz, in the summer it was like between me or Lindelof and they signed Lindelof'. I was like, 'You are joking! ' Nobody knows that, he told me that on the bench."

Austin expressed his surprise at United's decision to sign Victor Lindelof from Benfica for £30.7million instead of Van Dijk. The Red Devils later spent £80million on Harry Maguire in an attempt to strengthen their defence, reports the Mirror.

Liverpool shelled out £75million to Southampton for Virgil van Dijk's services in January 2018, and the towering 6ft 5in defender has been a key figure for the Reds ever since, helping them secure both Premier League and Champions League titles under Klopp, and continuing his stellar