Liverpool to escape punishment for allegedly tapping up Virgil van Dijk

Southampton's Virgil van Dijk. Reuters

Liverpool are set to escape punishment for allegedly tapping up Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.

Southampton reported Liverpool to the Premier League after numerous reports emerged suggesting the Holland international had decided he wanted to join Jurgen Klopp’s side.

However, with no bid made, Southampton took their grievance to the authorities, prompting an immediate apology from Liverpool - accepted by the south-coast side - and a commitment to end their interest in the centre-back.

A preliminary investigation was launched by the Premier League but has stalled as there is insufficient evidence to support Southampton’s claim.

Unless new information comes to light there will reportedly not be any more progress with the inquiry, effectively allowing Liverpool to avoid a sanction.

Liverpool’s players return from their summer breaks to start pre-season next week but striker Danny Ings is already ahead of them having been working on his own at Melwood.

The 24-year-old has made just 11 appearances since his £8 million move from Burnley in 2015 after missing the majority of his two seasons at the club with serious knee injuries.

In October 2015, in his first training session with then new manager Jurgen Klopp, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee which ruled him out for seven months.

Almost a year later he sustained ligament damage to his right knee in the EFL Cup tie against Tottenham at Anfield and has not featured since.

Ings, who posted a video on Instagram of him training on his own, has been regularly attending Melwood since the end of the season in a bid to get his fitness up ready for pre-season.

Chile think transfer speculation around Alexis Sanchez will drive him to play even better against Portugal in the Confederations Cup semi-finals.

Sanchez has been linked with a move away from Arsenal and, far from distracting him, Chile teammate Marcelo Diaz said “he will be able to keep developing during this summer and I think that his personal situation will help him grow”.

Manager Juan Antonio Pizzi suggested the demand for Sanchez is a boost to his self-esteem, saying “we suppose he is very happy because he is going through a very special situation and I think everybody would like to be in this situation because the best clubs in the world want to have him in their squads”.

Diaz suggested Cristiano Ronaldo has single-handedly propelled Portugal into the semi-finals, and shutting him down will be Chile’s top defensive priority.

“He played an amazing season in Spain and I think he is playing here with the same strength. That’s the reason why they are also in the semi-final tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll try to stop him and reduce the space he has to move in ... try to avoid that he gets the ball and scores.”

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