Kamara said Mourinho, who was Man United boss at the time, said the Red Devils were unwilling to spend £75m to sign Van Dijk
By Kehinde Okeowo
Popular British presenter, Chris Kamara has claimed Roma coach, Jose Mourinho, failed to take his advice to sign Virgil van Dijk for Manchester United from Southampton.
Kamara made the assertion recently while speaking on “Proper Football” podcast, where he argued the red half of Manchester would have been the club benefitting from the services of the Netherlands international.
Liverpool eventually won the race to sign the dependable Dutch defender in January 2018, in a deal worth £75m and it has now appeared to be money well spent.
Van Dijk went on to establish himself as one of the best defenders in the English top flight and in the world, helping the Reds win several titles, including the Premier League and Champions League.
ALSO READ: Peseiro warns Super Eagles against complacency
Discussing how Manchester United missed out on an opportunity to sign Van Dijk, former Sky Sports reporter, Kamara claimed he told former Chelsea boss, Mourinho to sign the Dutchman from Southampton during his reign at Manchester United, but it appeared the Portuguese tactician was interested in a deal.
According to him, the legendary manager said Manchester United were not willing to spend such a huge amount of money to sign the Liverpool defender.
Kamara who recently received an MBE said: “I can exclusively reveal that I told Jose Mourinho to take Virgil van Dijk to Manchester United.”
“Jose said, ‘these lot [Man Utd] won’t give me the money for him’. And then Van Dijk went to Liverpool instead.”
Manchester United have struggled since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013. They, however, won their first trophy in 6 years under their new Dutch manager, Erik Ten Hag, who won this season’s Carling Cup.