Guardiola made a mistake missing out of Liverpool ace Van Dijk - Souness

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness says that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will regret not signing Virgil van Dijk when he had the chance.

The Reds swooped for the Netherlands international centre-back in the winter transfer window of 2018 for a fee of £75 million ($99m) – a record for a defender at the time – but have been richly paid off for their investment, with Van Dijk finishing second in the voting for the 2019 Ballon d’Or having helped his side to Champions League glory.

And Souness believes that if City boss Guardiola could have the time again, he would ensure the defender did not escape his clutches. 

“If Guardiola could turn back the clock two years, to the January transfer window of 2018, he would pay a premium to sign Virgil van Dijk, topping the £75 million that Liverpool paid Southampton for him. I said at the time it was a no-brainer,” the former Anfield midfielder and manager told The Times .

“It’s not the last piece of the jigsaw because Guardiola would never be happy with his lot, but there was never a question of how Van Dijk would handle the Premier League because he had already shown he could after moving south from Celtic.

"For City, with their owners, there will always be a premium to be paid for a player, it’s how big that premium is. There are deals they just have to take on the chin, and Van Dijk was one of them.”

The lack of planning with regards City’s defence is something that the Scot has been surprised by as Liverpool have opened up a 22-point advantage at the summit of the Premier League table.

“From the outside, it seems Guardiola is never sure of his best central pairing in defence,” Souness argued. “When he spent £60m on signing Joao Cancelo, a right-back, from Juventus last summer, I would have thought a centre- back was the priority. 

“He did not have a settled partnership even with Vincent Kompany there and Aymeric Laporte fit because he could not rely on Kompany being there all the time.

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“Guardiola loses Kompany, then the season starts and he also loses Laporte to injury. He knows there’s a player in John Stones, but he is not 100 per cent sold on him. Nicolas Otamendi does a good job when he comes in, but we all know his shortcomings. 

“Then there’s a chain reaction. You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul by taking Fernandinho out of midfield and using him at centre-back because he is a lot better than Rodri. That is the crux of City’s problem.” 

There is, however, one other issue that need to be addressed in the summer transfer window in Souness' view.

“There is still a year left in Sergio Aguero, but Guardiola will also look to sign a world-class centre forward,” he added.

City travel to face Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday as they aim to solidify second place.