Antonio Conte has revealed that he tried to sign Virgil van Dijk when he was Chelsea manager, coming close to acquiring his signature.
The Italian enjoyed a successful spell at Stamford Bridge between 2016 and 2018, winning the Premier League title in 2017.
Conte built a formidable Chelsea team which included the likes of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, but he wanted a couple of extra players to perfect his side after their title triumph.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Conte said Van Dijk was right at the top of his wish list, along with Romelu Lukaku, prior to the defender eventually moving to Liverpool in January 2018, saying:
I asked for two players and we were very, very close after we won the league.
One player was Romelu Lukaku, the second player was Virgil van Dijk, and these two players were very, very close.
We were in contact every day and I always said that with these two players we would improve my team by 30 per cent.
I think maybe we lost the momentum to bring Chelsea at the very top and then to stay for many years.
It was a pity that it didn’t happen and Romelu is showing with Inter that my idea was right and also Van Dijk has shown with Liverpool that my idea was right for the club.
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Jurgen Klopp will be breathing a huge sigh of relief that Chelsea failed to sign Van Dijk, considering the monumental impact he has made at Anfield.
The Dutchman’s arrival helped spark a new era of success for Liverpool – within five months of him arriving they were in a Champions League final, before winning the competition the following year and also being crowned Premier League champions in 2019/20.
Van Dijk’s current cruciate ligament injury is a huge blow, but the idea of him never even joining the Reds in the first place is a grim one.
Conte will know full well what a special player he missed out on – what was his loss proved very much to be Klopp’s gain.
