Manchester City refusing to meet van Dijk's asking price

Manchester City are refusing to meet the £70 million asking price for Liverpool target Virgil van Dijk.

The Manchester Evening News reports that Pep Guardiola has been handed a £300 million transfer budget this summer, but will not pay over the odds for key targets.

City have already completed deals for Bernardo Silva and Ederson, while they have also been linked with Kyle Walker, Ryan Bertrand and Alexis Sanchez most noticeably.

Van Dijk appeared to be heading to Liverpool but a formal complaint to the Premier League halted the Reds’ interest in the defender.

Guardiola had earmarked the Dutch defender as a key part of his squad overhaul this summer, with their main focusing being the City defence.

The Saints were willing to sell the player for somewhere in the region of £60 million, but following the high-profile incident with Liverpool, they have bumped up the player’s price to £70 million.