According to The Athletic, Tottenham Hotspur had Liverpool centre-back Virgil Van Dijk on their target list in the summer of 2015 before moving for Toby Alderweireld.
The Dutchman was at Celtic at the time and did end up replacing the Belgian at Southampton, but he could have been at Spurs if chairman Daniel Levy had failed to land Alderweireld.
Van Dijk was the next name on the list of Levy’s centre-back targets behind the Belgium international, and Tottenham still kept an eye on him at Saint Mary’s.
The 28-year-old was on the radar of the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City just after two seasons in England, and he ended up joining Liverpool for £75 million in January 2018
Van Dijk has since helped the Reds to the Champions League title and is a huge reason why they are just a few points away from being crowned Premier League winners.
He has helped the Reds become one of the best defensive sides on the continent, and there is no doubt that Spurs would have been a better side with him in their ranks.
Nevertheless, there wouldn’t be any regrets at the North London club given how well Alderweireld has turned, but they would hope not to miss out on the next Van Dijk, and it will be interesting to see how they fare in the transfer window going forward.
