SWANNY'S WORLD OF SPORT: When will the madness end? A stain on the Premier League and a salute to one of our greatest sportsmen

Fair play to the Saints for prising that much out of the gullible fools in charge of Liverpool for a player who is average at best. A bit like Liverpool’s other overpriced recent signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

If Jurgen Klopp believes van Dijk will make the difference as Liverpool try and bridge the gap between them and Manchester City he’s an even bigger myth than I already suspected.

In 2017 we saw a world record fee of £35 million for a goalkeeper who, like the rest of us, basically stands and watches Manchester City play and a world record £53 million on Kyle Walker, an ordinary defender. When will this madness end?

A STAIN ON THE PREMIER LEAGUE

It’s surely time to end the charade that the Premier League is the best in the world.

It’s not. It’s more one-sided than the Scottish Premier League thanks to Manchester City’s big-spending excellence and the cowardice shown by most other teams in the division.

Like Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher I sat watching Newcastle’s recent home game with City in a state of embarrassed disbelief as the Magpies played with so little passion and ambition in front of a 53,000 crowd, most of them desperate to see a home win. Apparently a 1-0 defeat was a triumph because Newcastle had a much more important game against Brighton to follow. They drew it 0-0. Scared, unambitious coaches are a stain on the Premier League. And that includes Jose Mourinho.

HERO OF THE YEAR

I love the darts. It’s simple, it’s quick and it’s played out in front of the greatest atmosphere in sport. It’s a shame the best player of all time was crushed in the world final in his farewell match and that he acted the fool during his demolition by Rob Cross, but 16 world titles makes Phil Taylor one of our greatest sportsmen.