Jurgen Klopp admits Virgil van Dijk's burning desire to join Liverpool was key to beating off strong competition for the £75million defender

Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal were also keen on the Dutch centre-back but he made it clear to Southampton that his heart was set on playing for Klopp.

"He wanted to come here 100% and that is a very important thing," Klopp said.

"Imagine in this moment you are a football guy and a few clubs in the world are looking for someone and they don’t hesitate or are shy with money.

"But that was not his intention. He wanted to join us and nobody else. That’s another really good thing.

(Image: Liverpool FC)

"It’s nice, it’s just good, it feels right. When you speak to him he will probably tell you the same."

Klopp had wanted to sign Van Dijk last summer but those hopes were dashed when Liverpool stood accused of making an illegal approach and ended up issuing an apology to Saints.

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At the time the Reds boss was heavily criticised for not pursuing an alternative centre-back target.

Asked if that was because he was always confident he would get Van Dijk in January, Klopp said: "I will not say anything about that because I am still not sure what I am allowed to say about last summer without my lawyer!

"The first time I saw Virgil he was playing for Celtic. But it was only during his time at Southampton really that I saw enough games of him. When he was still in Holland I did not think about him too much."

Klopp decided that Van Dijk would be worth the wait because he possesses "pretty much everything" a manager looks for in a commanding centre-back.

(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

And he believes there's still plenty of room for the 26-year-old to develop further.

"In this country you need to be prepared for a lot of things," Klopp said.

"Heading is a very important thing. For us football playing is a very important thing. Speed is a very important thing because we defend in a few situations quite high. Awareness is a very important thing.

"I think he combines a lot, pretty much everything. But still I don’t think he was ever at his 100%.

"He was in a really good way, then he got injured which was not perfect for Southampton, for Claude Puel at that time, and for the player of course.

"Players like him need time on the physical side to get back to 100% and I think everyone could see that in the first part of this season. He will develop with us again because he has that ability."

Van Dijk could make his debut in the FA Cup tie against Everton next Friday but Klopp reiterated that he won't rush the 6ft 4ins defender into action for the Reds.

He intends to assess him at Melwood next week before deciding when to draft him in.

"I don’t know how much time he will need because we play differently from Southampton," Klopp said.

"We don’t have a lot of time to train but okay between the Everton and Man City games there is a little bit more time.

"There are so many things he still needs to work on but he's at a wonderful age. He's developed a lot in the last few years and made big steps so it is a good thing.

"It’s a long-term project and I don’t feel any rush with him. If he is 100% we can use him.

"If not we'll bring him to 100% and then he will be ready."