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What a complete and utter shambles.

A farce. An embarrassment. A humiliation. A joke.

None of those words, though, can truly do justice to the dramatic u-turn Liverpool have performed regarding their interest in Virgil van Dijk.

Barely 48 hours ago, the Reds were confident they would sign the Southampton defender after the player indicated he would sooner move to Anfield than Manchester City, Chelsea and, as it later transpired, Arsenal.

And now this, Liverpool taking the unprecedented step of releasing a statement apologising to Southampton for any misunderstanding and publicly declaring they are no longer interested in van Dijk.

Even the most seasoned observer was taken aback. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen.

(Image: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Usually, it’s not until deep into the transfer window that Liverpool fans grow irate at their club’s business in the market.

This summer, the Reds haven’t even bothered to wait for it to open.

What a complete and utter shambles.

With Liverpool keen to make a statement in the transfer market, this probably wasn’t the one they wanted to make. One that suggests that, at times, they can be haplessly incompetent.

Harsh? Hardly.

Talk about a baptism of fire for Liverpool’s chief executive Peter Moore. Officially in the role for less than a week, he’s watching one of the most embarrassing incidents in the club’s history unfold before his eyes. In fairness to him, negotiating transfers is no longer within his remit.

That honour falls to sporting director Michael Edwards , this his first summer transfer window since being elevated into the newly-created position.

Something somewhere has gone wrong. Very, very wrong.

Let’s be grown up about this for a moment. Transfers are a grey area, approaches are made that skirt the very limits of what is acceptable.

All van Dijk’s suitors would have, in some indirect manner, had the ear of the player.

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But for Liverpool to retreat so rapidly when Southampton approached the Premier League to investigate an illegal approach suggests the Reds have not so much edged as leapt over the boundaries.

Either that or they’re, well, just not very good at it. Not very clever. Not savvy enough.

Are the club wary of Jurgen Klopp - suggested as being crucial in van Dijk’s preference for Anfield - being implicated in any investigation?

(Image: (Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))

Or are they mindful of even the slightest indiscretion given they were in April handed a two-year ban from signing Academy players from any other English clubs after pleading guilty to, yes, “tapping up” a 12-year-old Stoke player?

There’s no obvious limit on the sanctions that could be handed out, and that includes a transfer ban of senior players similar to that, for different reasons, Atletico Madrid are currently struggling with.

The reverberations of this debacle will be felt for a long, long time to come.

Of more immediate concern, though, is the short term. Is there still confidence Liverpool are capable of sealing such big deals? How will rival clubs view them? Will they think twice given, on the face of it, how amateur the Reds look right now?

For the sake of their own reputation, and to regain at least some of the goodwill of their bemused and angry fanbase, Liverpool must conclude a deal as soon as possible. Mohamed Salah , Gelson Martins, anyone to show they still mean business.

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Those playing devil’s advocate may suggest Liverpool are merely ending interest because van Dijk’s asking price is too high. They are calling Southampton’s bluff.

Had the statement not been so unequivocal, the most optimistic Reds supporter might entertain that notion.

No, though. Not this time, although Fenway Sports Group’s detractors will no doubt claim it’s really a decision about money they simply aren’t prepared to spend.

Of course, lost amid all the furore is the player himself.

Having chosen Klopp and Liverpool, he now must return to Southampton or pursue a move to clubs he has already rejected once.

The option of van Dijk handing in a transfer request in an attempt to force a move through could have been considered were it not for the explicit nature of Liverpool’s remarkable statement.

There appears no turning back from that.

Van Dijk has kept his counsel throughout the transfer saga. He’s not the first person to be left high and dry by a football club. He won’t be the last.

But the Dutchman is right now probably thinking what we all are.

What a complete and utter shambles.