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Liverpool are prepared to shatter their transfer record to buy Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk this summer as competition for his signature hots up.

The Reds face a battle to secure the services of the Dutch centre-back but they haven’t been put off by the £50million price tag.

The previous biggest fee Liverpool have ever spent on a player was the £35million they paid Newcastle United for Andy Carroll in January 2011.

Arsenal have become the latest Premier League club to register their interest in Van Dijk. As well as Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton are also in the hunt.

Van Dijk is Jurgen Klopp’s top defensive target but the Reds boss knows the club must achieve Champions League qualification in order to have any hope of signing him.

Liverpool insist it won’t come down to money and they are prepared to make the 25-year-old defender one of the club’s highest wage earners. Saints, who bought Van Dijk from Celtic for £13million two years, are increasingly resigned to losing the Holland international.

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Van Dijk, who has been sidelined since January with a foot injury, wants to play Champions League football and intends to weigh up his options in the summer.