Liverpool hero John Barnes says they shouldn't blink spending £50 million to sign Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.

Barnes says the size of the price tag shouldn't put Liverpool off as Jurgen Klopp seeks to strengthen his backline.

“I've seen enough of him from when he was at Celtic to know that Van Dijk is a very talented defender," he told the Liverpool Echo.

“It would be great. He's a quality player. I think Jurgen Klopp does like him and if he comes to Liverpool I think that would be a good signing.

“It doesn't matter how much it takes. You can sign a good player for £5million or a good player for £50million. If that's the market value, it's the market value.

“I'm more interested in the qualities that a player could bring to the team rather than the transfer fee. Of course if it doesn't work out then it's a lot of money to spend on a failure. But whenever you sign a player there's a risk.

“Paul Pogba was £90million. Has Pogba played like the best footballer in the world? No, but he's a good player who can help Manchester United in the future.

“If it takes spending £50million to get Van Dijk and Klopp wants to do that and believes that's the right deal for the club then I'd back him."