Virgil van Dijk has just under a year remaining on his current Liverpool contract, and he’s been attracting significant interest from the Saudi Pro League.
The Reds captain inadvertently opened a can of worms about his future with comments that he made in the immediate aftermath of Netherlands’ semi-final defeat to England at Euro 2024, and some LFC fans may have begun to dread the prospect of him leaving this summer.
However, according to Graeme Bailey for HITC on Tuesday morning, the 33-year-old has told Anfield chiefs that he wants to stay put and sign a new deal with the club, and he’s understood to have resisted any opportunity to speak with prospective suitors.
New Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has also made it clear to his bosses that he wants to keep Van Dijk for the season ahead.
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We’re still in that part of the summer where wildly contrasting updates can emerge regarding various transfer rumours – the recent speculation surrounding Liverpool and Takefusa Kubo is a prime example of that.
It’s reassuring in this instance that the update about Van Dijk’s apparent desire to stay at Anfield is coming from a reliable journalist in Bailey, even if we’ll probably still see various other outlets peddling the notion that the Dutchman would rather move on to Saudi Arabia.
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Even though the defender has recently turned 33 and is our second highest-paid player on £220,000 per week (Capology), it’d be in the Reds’ best interests to try and extend his contract beyond next summer.
He enjoyed a fine season for Liverpool in 2023/24, effortlessly taking on the captaincy after Jordan Henderson’s exit, and his leadership on and off the pitch will be a crucial pillar for Slot to lean upon in his first year at the helm on Merseyside.
Once Van Dijk has returned from his post-Euro 2024 holiday, we’d hope that Richard Hughes will make it a priority to sit down with the Netherlands skipper and tie down his future at the club for a further 12 months or more.
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