Virgil van Dijk has revealed why he joined Liverpool rather than the likes of Chelsea, Man City, and Arsenal.

The former Southampton defender had been subject to the attention of a number of top Premier League clubs for more than 12 months previous, with interest from the Blues strong enough for the centre-back to be given a City shirt from his teammates in their 2016 Secret Santa.

However, the Guardiola-tutored side’s valuation of the player did not meet Southampton’s and they were not prepared to spend the world-record fee for a defender that Liverpool did when they agreed to pay £75m.

Van Dijk may not have had other offers on the table when Liverpool came up, but that did not mean he rushed into the move.

He carefully considered Liverpool’s past, present, and future before agreeing a move to the Premier League side in December 2017.

Van Dijk told BT Sport: “Before I made the decision to choose Liverpool, I looked at all the aspects of the clubs; the way of playing, the team-mates, the future as well.

“The city, the fans everything has got to be big part of joining a club.

“I think Liverpool at that time when I made the decision was the right decision and obviously to reach the Champions League final in my first six months was obviously a big bonus and helped me a lot in my development.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @ atletienglish