'Manchester United picked Lindelof over Van Dijk'

Is this the Red Devils’ biggest transfer blunder? A former teammate of Van Dijk has made a startling revelation made in Old Trafford.

Manchester United passed on signing Virgil van Dijk to complete a deal for Victor Lindelof in the summer of 2017, claims a ‘gobsmacked’ Charlie Austin.

Van Dijk made his mark in the Premier League upon joining Southampton from Scottish giants Celtic in 2015 for €15.7m. His impressive displays in the Saints’ defense didn’t go unnoticed, alerting interest from the top English clubs.

And United, who were at the time seeking to build another title-winning squad in 2017, made their interest known.

The Dutch center-back’s former Southampton teammate Austin, however, has claimed the Red Devils favored a €35m deal to sign Lindelof from Benfica 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

“I remember in the back end of his Southampton career we were on the bench together at Chelsea away,” the striker told talkSPORT.

“I sat there and was like ‘Virg lad, what’s going on? Surely Manchester United must have been in for you? Massive club in England etc’. He went ‘do you know what Chaz, in the summer it was like between me and Lindelof and they signed Lindelof’.

“I was like, ‘you are joking!’ I couldn’t believe it, I was gobsmacked. There was talk of him going there and then they have taken Lindelof instead.”

United’s loss was Liverpool’s gain, though. The Reds signed Van Dijk for an €84.65m fee and the Dutchman has since become a huge hit by helping Jurgen Klopp’s men to several major honors.