Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has admitted that he understands why fans have "doubts" over the club's transfer business this summer.
The Reds made two early splashes in the transfer market this summer by signing Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai for a combined £95m, which could grow to £115m with the former's add-ons.
Liverpool have largely struggled to get any other deals over the line however, seeing three bids rejected by Southampton for Romeo Lavia and interest in defensive options such as Jurrien Timber fizzle out - with the defender instead joining Arsenal.
Coupled with that, the Reds have also let a huge number of first-team players leave the club, particularly in midfielder as captain Jordan Henderson and vice-captain Fabinho both joined Saudi Pro League teams, and the likes of James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all left as free agents. Long-serving forward Roberto Firmino has also moved on.
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All of this has ultimately led to Liverpool fans being rather unimpressed with the club's transfer business and new club captain Van Dijk admitted that he understands their concerns.
"I can definitely understand it in some ways but I'm not a very negative person," he said.
"Obviously, when a lot of players are leaving, when your captain and vice-captain is leaving, and at the moment, there are only two incomings. And the way we have been playing, in possession really good but defensively when you concede goals it's not as good, I can understand some people having doubts.
"Let's see if more players are coming in and then we have to be ready again for a long season. It will be very tough if we look at the teams around us, but we want to be up there again, we want to be challenging again.
"We have to be confident, we should be confident, and we should still be learning each and every day. There have been characters leaving, players who have played a big part in the success, but others have to step up. That's a nice challenge in my opinion. We should be excited."
The Reds kick-off their 2023/24 Premier League campaign on Sunday against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Virgil van Dijk responds to criticism of Liverpool's transfer business.