Details of Virgil van Dijk’s extraordinary Liverpool contract have emerged in an explosive new book.
Football Leaks: Uncovering the Dirty Details Behind the Beautiful Game (p.293-294) have documentation explaining the exact cost of the Merseyside giants’ club-record signing as well as the details of the five-year contract he signed.
Liverpool paid an initial £70million to Southampton for the Holland international in January with a further £4million due should he play 150 matches and the Reds regularly finish in the top four.
Football Leaks report that Van Dijk has signed a five-and-a-half year contract worth a basic £124,658 a week plus a £6million signing-on bonus and a £5million loyalty bonus.
Van Dijk is also due generous bonuses if he hits certain targets, including premium for every clean sheet Liverpool record. If he plays an hour in 22 matches in a season in which the team didn’t concede a goal, the reward is £750,000.
OPINION
The devil is certainly in the detail. Liverpool have been widely hailed for pushing the boat out to sign Van Dijk in January, an A-list centre-back who is in the very top bracket in Europe. Manager Jurgen Klopp has been praised for his charm offensive in persuading the Dutchman to join, but the Merseysiders have certainly had to spend big to get him. In year one of the detail, Van Dijk will be handed a guaranteed £240,000-a-week, made up of his basic wage and signing-on bonus. Over the course of the detail, other lucrative premiums will head his way, including a £5million loyalty bonus at a specified time. Complicated clean-sheet bonuses will also be pocketed by the 6ft 5in giant if Liverpool can stay tight at the back. The player has certainly hit the jackpot by joining Liverpool in a clear illustration of the stunning sums swimming around at the highest level. If you’re good, as Van Dijk undoubtedly is, you can demand and get a king’s ransom.
