Liverpool have reached an agreement with Southampton for Virgil van Dijk.
A deal worth £75 million was struck to see Van Dijk move from Southampton on January 1, seeing him become the costliest defender in world football.
The Holland international will wear the no.4 shirt at Anfield at the conclusion of a transfer saga which has hung over the Reds since the previous summer.
Southampton had threatened to report Liverpool over their original pursuit of Van Dijk amid claims that the player had been ‘tapped up’ by the club.
But negotiations between the two sides resumed this winter, culminating in a breakthrough which led Wednesday’s announcement.
Manchester City were keen on signing the 26-year-old but working with Jurgen Klopp was a key factor in Liverpool beating the Premier League champions-elect.
Van Dijk took to Twitter to express his delight at the imminent move to Merseyside.
He said: “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.
“I can’t wait to pull on the famous red shirt for the first time in front of the Kop.
“And [I] will give everything I have to try and help this great club achieve something special in the years to come.
“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 few months I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Saints and have made friends for life at the club. Thank you for everything.
“Thank you for all the messages of support. I’m now looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and getting started.”
Van Dijk becomes the sixth Southampton player to join Liverpool, bringing the club’s collective spending to over £160m since 2014.