Liverpool, at long last, have completed the signing of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton.

The 26-year-old joins the club in a deal understood to be worth £75m and took to Instagram to express his delight at joining the Merseyside outfit.

His post read: “Delighted and honoured to have agreed to become a Liverpool FC player! Today is a proud day for me and my family as I join one of the biggest clubs in world football!”

After a long transfer saga that dragged on through the summer and over the course of the season since, the Dutchman says he can’t wait to pull on the jersey for Liverpool and achieve success with the club.

“I can’t wait to pull on the famous red shirt for the first time in front of the Kop and will give everything I have to try and help this great club achieve something special in the years to come.”

Despite enduring a rather difficult time over the summer and the start of the campaign with Southampton, so much so that he was made to train alone amid the transfer speculation, Van Dijk thanked the club for his stint with them.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Les Reed, the board, manager, players, fans and everyone at Southampton. I will always be indebted to the club for giving me the opportunity to play in the Premier League and despite a difficult last few months I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Saints and have made friends for life at the club.”

“Thank you for all the messages of support. I’m now looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and getting started,” he signed off.