John Terry names the price Chelsea should pay to sign Virgil van Dijk

The defending Premier League champions have been linked with a potential move to sign the 26-year-old defender next month to improve their squad ahead of the second half of the 2017-18 season.

Van Dijk is one of the hottest properties in the Premier League given interest from Chelsea’s title rivals Arsenal, Liverpool FC and Manchester City ahead of the January transfer window.

The Netherlands international came close to a £70m move to Liverpool FC in the summer before the Merseyside outfit were forced to end their interest in Van Dijk after Southampton threatened to report the Reds for an alleged tapping up.

Former Chelsea captain Terry doesn’t believe the Premier League title holders should pay more than £55m to sign the highly-rated Southampton defender next month.

“I think it was a big statement to put him on the bench for the game with Chelsea,” Terry told Monday Night Football on Sky Sports.

“If they [Southampton] are demanding £60m, if I were Chelsea I would be saying more like £55m if he’s not getting in their starting XI.”

Chelsea signed Germany international Antonio Rudiger in a £34m deal from Serie A giants AS Roma in the summer transfer window.

The Blues have seen Danish defender Andreas Christensen has emerged as an exciting talent in the Chelsea team.

The west London side signed six players in the summer transfer window to bolster their squad ahead of a return to the Champions League.