‘Man Utd passed on Van Dijk & overspent on Maguire’ – Meulensteen not convinced Koulibaly is an £80m answer

Manchester United decided against following up interest in Virgil van Dijk when the Liverpool star was at Southampton, claims Rene Meulensteen, with the Red Devils considered to have overpaid for Harry Maguire in their ongoing bid to fix defensive faults.

A highly-rated Netherlands international was registering on the radar of leading clubs long before he secured a £75 million ($95m) move to Anfield in January 2018.

United were among those to weigh up the merits of a move, only to determine that the Dutchman was not worth the time, effort and money required to bring him on board.

They have been left to rue that decision, with Van Dijk going on to become a talismanic presence for arch-rivals.

It has been suggested that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will dip back into a familiar market when the next window swings open, with his side still in need of reinforcements at the back.

Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly is said to be in United’s sights, but he is also attracting interest from far and wide and will not come cheap if a deal is to be done.

Pressed on whether the Red Devils need to land another centre-half, Sir Alex Ferguson’s former right-hand man Meulensteen told Stadium Astro: "Yeah, definitely.

"To be fairly honest, I also do know in the time before, when Van Dijk was still at Southampton, there were questions of Manchester United bringing Van Dijk in.

"They never really took the punt but Liverpool did because they could see the potential that he had but also the speed Van Dijk had, the strength and everything.

"Those are some of the aspects you would look at a really good strong central defender, can he play with some space at the back?

"Everyone's talking about Koulibaly, bringing him in, but he could go to four or five clubs so it's not a given that he'll come.

"For £80 million ($101m), a central defender, if you compare that with Van Dijk's performance for Liverpool last season and this season, then I think Van Dijk is quite a bit ahead."

United have already splashed out that figure in the recent past, with Maguire made the most expensive defender in world football when completing a move from Leicester in 2019.

The England international has settled quickly at Old Trafford, becoming club captain in the process, but Meunlensteen is not convinced that the 27-year-old is worth the money invested in him.

The Dutchman added: "For me, I would probably say £50m, no more than £60m."

United need Maguire to provide value for money as, having suffered defeat in the FA Cup semi-finals at the hands of Chelsea, they are about to turn their focus back to a top-four bid in the Premier League.