Virgil van Dijk saga takes hilarious turn as Liverpool pull out

Things have really escalated, but not in a good way for ol’ Liverpool in their pursuit of Chelsea- and Manchester City-linked Virgil van Dijk. Barely 72 hours ago they throwing GIF-parties on Merseyside as the center back had supposedly picked Klopp over Conte and Guardiola. Now they’re releasing official statements of apology. If this seems unprecedented, it just might be.

Hilariously enough, Liverpool are blaming “recent media speculation” — #campaign — for the “misunderstanding” regarding their interest in the Southampton defender. The only way this would get funnier is if Saints did not withdraw their allegations and Liverpool were still hit with sanctions for tapping up the 25-year-old. Should Van Dijk actually move somewhere this summer, be that Chelsea or Manchester City, that would be just icing on the cake. (Though given what’s just transpired, teams are a bit more likely to steer well clear of Van Dijk ... which could explain the sudden resurgence of Stefan de Vrij rumors.)

Liverpool Football Club would like to put on record our regret over recent media speculation regarding Southampton Football Club and player transfers between the two clubs.

We apologise to the owner, board of directors and fans of Southampton for any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk.

We respect Southampton's position and can confirm we have ended any interest in the player.

-source: Liverpool FC

Also mildly amusing is the fact that Liverpool did not even tweet out a link to their statement, to spare themselves the reaction and backlash. Too bad; it’s would’ve been undoubtedly glorious.