Jamie Carragher: Virgil van Dijk needs to lose a bit of weight

The club made an overall profit in January, having sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for £146 million while spending £75m on Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.

But Liverpool legend Carragher is not happy with the club’s dealings in January and insists that the winter transfer window should be considered a failure.

“I think if you lose your best player there's no way you can dress it up as a positive window, certainly in January as well,” he said on Sky Sports' The Debate show.

“I think every Liverpool fan, myself included, when Philippe Coutinho stayed in the summer, felt okay.

“'We know he's going next season, let's enjoy these 12 months, probably similar to Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, you always felt that was going to happen.

“To lose him mid-season, you know I don't agree. Philippe Coutinho is not worth that [£146m], he's not that good. I would have took £20m, £30m less in the summer to know that Liverpool would have had him in the second half of the season, because at that time we're still in the FA Cup, we're still in the Champion League.”

And after scoring on his Liverpool debut in the Merseyside derby, Van Dijk has struggled in the heart of Liverpool’s defence and didn’t cover himself in too much glory during the defeats by Swansea and West Brom.

“I think it will prove to be a great signing, but he hasn't hit the ground running," Carragher said. "I think he needs to get fit and lose a bit of weight. He actually looks too big. Maybe that's to do with not having a pre-season.”