SERIOUSLY SPECIAL

Van Dijk has proven he's worth every penny to City chief

- JEREMY CROSS

IT'S safe to say the clip hasn't aged well.

The one in the 'All or Nothing' documentary about Man City, when chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak discussed why his club rejected the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk.

When learning of the £75million price tag, Al-Mubarak came out with the now infamous words, 'Come on, you cannot be serious.

To cut a long story short, City and Al-Mubarak baulked at the fee. They didn't think Van Dijk was worth it.

Instead, they signed Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao, and Van Dijk went to Liverpool. And look how that has turned out.

Laporte left City in 2023 for the mega-bucks on offer in Saudi, while Van Dijk is still strutting his stuff on Merseyside as he continues to prove he is the best defender in the world.

In fairness to City, they haven't done too badly without Van Dijk, winning trophy after trophy.