Julian Ward could destroy Liverpool's Premier League title chances with one transfer | OneFootball

Julian Ward has only just been appointed as Liverpool's sporting director but, it already feels like he's going to have some fairly tough decisions to make.

Richard Hughes was the man he took over from and, at the moment, it's unclear whether his time at Liverpool was well spent or not.

The Englishman splashed over £600 million on new players over the last couple of years and, on paper, it looks like the Reds are much stronger but, after finishing fifth in the league last season, their results would say otherwise.

So, that's why over £150 million had to be spent again this summer.

Admittedly, most of it was shelled out on bringing Bradley Barcola in and, while he was one of Paris Saint-Germain's top attackers, he's also failed to have much of an impact so far.

Obviously, this has left a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Ward with one potential transfer he could sanction now emerging that could mess absolutely everything up at Anfield.

Galatasaray want to sign Virgil van Dijk in the January transfer window

At the moment, it doesn't really feel like there are many players among Liverpool's ranks that they can afford to lose.

Their squad is already fairly thin and, even though they do have too many foreign players among their ranks at the moment, each player feels fairly pivotal to the way that things are going to pan out in L4 this season.

So, the fact that rumours linking Galatasaray with a January move for Virgil van Dijk are even emerging feels massively concerning.

The Dutchman may be 35 years old but, he's still probably Liverpool's best centre-back.

That's why this latest update from Turkish outlet Fotomac is rather worrying.

"The defensive problems at Galatasaray have now reached a point where the management is about to take action," they wrote.

"Although the transfer window hasn't closed long ago, activity in this area is expected in January.

"The Galatasaray management has decided to take action once again for the world-famous star Virgil van Dijk, who has been on their transfer agenda for 2 years.

"The 35-year-old footballer, who expressed how much he missed Mohamed Salah after his departure, will be a free agent at the end of the season.

"An offer will be made in January for the Dutch star, who has played in every match for Liverpool this year.

"If the English team is reluctant to let go of their regular starter this season, an agreement will be reached with Van Dijk at the end of the season."

Liverpool's Premier League title hopes would be squashed if they sold Virgil van Dijk

As mentioned, even though Van Dijk is in the twilight stages of his career, he's still incredibly important to Liverpool.

Not only is he their captain but, he's one of their most experienced players and, without him next to Jeremy Jacquet, it's unclear whether the Frenchman would be doing as well as he is at the moment.

The Dutchman is the key to keeping the Reds' defence in line and, even if Liverpool got a decent chunk of change for the 35-year-old, he'd be impossible to replace.

Of course, selling him in January would be better than losing him for nothing in June, but, there would be no chance of them winning the Premier League title.

They're six points adrift of league leaders Manchester City at the moment and, since their first game back after the international break is against Enzo Maresca's men, that total could be cut in half.

But, without Van Dijk helping them get through to the end of the season, there's no way that they'd be anywhere close to finishing at the top, especially if someone such as Giovanni Leoni or Joe Gomez is expected to fill the void left by the towering Dutchman.