City are ready to pay Southampton more than £50 million for Van Dijk

Manchester City are preparing a £100 million deal for Virgil van Dijk that they hope will allow them to beat Chelsea and Liverpool to the defender’s signature.

City are ready to pay Southampton more than £50 million and give Van Dijk a five-year contract worth about £180,000 a week, nearly four times his present salary.

Sánchez is among Guardiola’s other leading targets ADAM DAVY/PA

It marks another sign of City’s aggressiveness in the transfer market as Pep Guardiola seeks to overhaul his squad after finishing third in the Premier League in his first season in charge. City spent £43.6 million to sign Bernardo Silva, a midfielder, from Monaco last week and are poised to complete a £34.7 million deal for Ederson, the Benfica goalkeeper.

Chelsea thought that they were in pole position to sign