The likes of Mane, Lallana and
Clyne have swapped St. Mary's for Anfield but there have been plenty more
direct deals involving other clubs
Virgil
van Dijk could become the eighth player to leave Southampton for Liverpool this summer.
The Reds are in pole position to land the
Dutchman, in what will be a world-record fee for a defender.
Southampton
aren't happy about their pursuit though and believe there has been an illegal
approach from the Merseysiders.
Whether Van Dijk joins some former teammates at Anfield
remains to be seen but it has become a very popular route in recent years.
Current Reds
Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne, Sadio Mane and Dejan Lovren have all made the
move from the south coast.
They've followed in the footsteps of Rickie Lambert, Peter
Crouch and former goalkeeper Paul Jones.
Mark Walters
is the only player to move in the opposite direction on a permanent basis.
But it is not
the most popular direct transfer route between clubs.
That honour goes to Derby and Sheffield United,
with a staggering 20 deals between the two clubs.
Nine of the signings were made by the Rams and eleven by the
Blades.
Those
transfers involve players such as Irish legend Paul McGrath (Derby to Sheffield
United) and Rob Hulse, in the opposite direction.
The next
busiest transfer route is between Tottenham and Portsmouth.
A total of 19 permanent transfers have taken place between the
two clubs in the Premier League era, with four involving two players.
Jermain Defoe
left Spurs for Pompey in January of 2008 while Younes Kaboul left in August of
the same year.
The two
players were back in north London before long though with Defoe returning in
January 2009 and Kaboul in January 2010.
Liverpool and West Ham
have done the next highest number of deals.
A total of 16 deals
have been done between the two clubs with the Hammers snapping up 12 Anfield
players and Liverpool four from West Ham.
Andy Carroll and Craig
Bellamy are West Ham’s two most expensive signings from Liverpool whereas for
the Merseysiders it’s Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun.
|
Route
|
No. of transfers
|
|
Derby - Sheff U
|
20
|
|
Portsmouth - Spurs
|
19
|
|
Liverpool - West Ham
|
16
|
|
Leeds - Leicester
|
15
|
|
QPR - West Ham
|
15
|
|
Villa -
Middlesbrough
|
14
|
|
Birmingham -
Coventry
|
14
|
|
Bournemouth - West
Ham
|
14
|
|
Bradford - Sheff U
|
14
|
|
Man City -
Portsmouth
|
14
|
|
Portsmouth - West
Ham
|
14
|
|
Sheff U - Stoke
|
14
|
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