A little-known wrestler playfully posing as defender Virgil Van Dijk on Twitter has been causing confusion for many Liverpool fans.
Michael Jones was best known as 'Virgil' - the sidekick of The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) 80s and 90s.
The 55-year-old has a verified Twitter account under the name 'Virgil' - and when Liverpool made a £75m swoop for his namesake last week, he saw his opportunity for a bit of mischief.
First, he changed his profile picture and published the kind of boilerplate statement heard from players when they join a new club.
Liverpool is now my home. I will make you all proud and continue the excellent tradition of@Premier league Football. I love football and I love my fans. A little pasta for my pre match will take me a long way. pic.twitter.com/FrFbqfihXM
— Virgil (@TheRealVirgil) December 28, 2017
Just like the best trolling though, he gave Twitter users who put the time in to check his bonafides every opportunity to spot the ruse, thanks to some bizarre tweets that would hardly be approved by the Liverpool PR department.
I want to thank @LFC for my car my contract signing. I am excited to show the world how I am the greatest soccer player in the world. God bless
— Virgil (@TheRealVirgil) December 28, 2017
Fam pic.twitter.com/73T0v9LCIs
— Virgil (@TheRealVirgil) December 28, 2017
Even the more outlandish tweets haven't been enough to stop some fans hilariously getting the wrong end of the stick, however.
dude, you don't get the 75mil. Do the research.
— Puth (@MazzaLOP) December 29, 2017
Just thought id let you know you will only get 10% 🙈🙈
— Seb Makemson (@sebmake1) December 28, 2017
There's still no word from the actual Virgil Van Dijk - I wonder what he makes of all this?
It’s matchday ✅⚽️ pic.twitter.com/PTj8cpp0Ei
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) December 13, 2017