Van Dijk was asked in the past week whether he wanted more faces through the door at Anfield.

“Any player that will arrive to the club, we will be welcoming,” the Dutchman said, according to This Is Anfield.

“Everyone wants to see quality arrive regardless. I fully trust the club and the board to make the right decisions,” he told reporters.

“We need a squad able to compete”

“We need everyone to be fit. We need a squad that is able to compete on all four fronts, that’s the only way to try to be successful,” Van Dijk said in comments carried by Empire of the Kop on 20 August.

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“Let’s see what the last couple weeks of the transfer window brings and then let’s go for it.”

Andoni Iraola, appointed head coach in June to replace Arne Slot, has said much the same in public.

“A winger, for example, we definitely need to sign a winger,” the Spaniard told reporters in the same set of quotes, adding that Liverpool are “very thin right now” at centre-back and right-back.

Barcola gap suddenly narrows

That winger has for weeks been widely reported to be Bradley Barcola. The problem has been the fee.

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Talks had been described as difficult as recently as this month. Sky Sports reported on 7 August that PSG were asking around £145m for the 23-year-old France international, a figure Liverpool were not prepared to meet at that stage. Barcola has two years left on his contract in Paris and, per the same report, does not intend to extend.

Liverpool then moved. A €135m (£115m) bid was submitted mid-window, according to Football365, with the report noting personal terms were already agreed and PSG had “not immediately dismissed” the offer.

The twist came on Monday. Yahoo Sports, citing L’Equipe and PSG-connected journalist Loïc Tanzi, reported that the two clubs are now aligned on a package of around €140m (£120m) including add-ons, with PSG refusing to drop lower and Liverpool prepared to meet the figure. If a formal bid follows, Barcola is expected to travel for a medical before the Premier League deadline at 11pm local time on 1 September.

Barcola is said to have made his preference for Anfield clear to the French champions, who have already signed Ferran Torres, Mika Godts and Maghnes Akliouche this summer.

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Van Dijk’s message was that the responsibility is now with the club. The window closes at 11pm local time on 1 September.

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