Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has criticised Liverpool for their conduct during the Virgil Van Dijk transfer saga.

The Reds were prematurely forced to end their interest in the Dutch defender after the Saints had reported them to Premier League for tapping up their player.

The Merseyside club also made a public apology to the Saints for their conduct during the pursuit of van Dijk.

"Somebody forgot that the way to go about a transfer is to actually make a bid first," he told talkSPORT.

"Where all these stories came from, they just jumped the gun a little bit early and maybe should have held fire until Liverpool had agreed a fee with Southampton then maybe they would have got the man. I remember the days when Liverpool used to be quite classy in transfer negotiations.

"There have been no bids for Virgil this summer, and until a bid has been accepted you shouldn't be talking to the player."