Former Manchester United assistant manager Rene Meulensteen admits they rejected the chance to sign Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk.

Meulensteen says United passed on the opportunity to sign Van Dijk during his time at Southampton.

Asked whether United need to sign a new defender, he told Stadium Astro: "Yeah, definitely.

"To be fairly honest, I also do know in the time before, when Van Dijk was still at Southampton, there were questions of Manchester United bringing Van Dijk in.

"They never really took the punt but Liverpool did because they could see the potential that he had but also the speed Van Dijk had, the strength and everything.

"Those are some of the aspects you would look at a really good strong central defender, can he play with some space at the back?

"Everyone's talking about Koulibaly, bringing him in, but he could go to four or five clubs so it's not a given that he'll come.

"For £80 million ($101m), a central defender, if you compare that with Van Dijk's performance for Liverpool last season and this season, then I think Van Dijk is quite a bit ahead."