Virgil van Dijk has remained coy about his own Liverpool future, following the shock announcement that Jurgen Klopp will leave this summer.
The Reds boss has confirmed that he will move on from his role at the end of the season, in a decision that has left shockwaves around the world of football.
The general consensus was that Klopp would at least stay on until the summer of 2026, but the search is now on for a new manager instead, with Liverpool supporters almost left in mourning at the news.
There is no question that the German is going to leave a gaping void when he exits, such is the remarkable impact he has had since arriving in October 2015, and it is now imperative that key players remain at the club.
Van Dijk is unquestionably one of those individuals, and when asked about only having 18 months left on his current deal, in quotes relayed by The Mirror, the Dutchman didn’t give too much away about his future:
“That is correct – good maths. Listen, I don’t know. The club will have a big job on their hands, that is well known. To replace the manager and replace not only the manager, the staff is leaving, and there are so many things that will change.
“So the club has a big job on its hands and I am very curious which direction that will go in. But when that will be announced we will see our situation, I can’t say now.”
Our thoughts on Van Dijk’s Liverpool future…
It goes without saying that Van Dijk will hopefully extend well beyond his current 2025 expiry date, even though he will be about to turn 34 years of age by that point.
The legendary Liverpool centre-back has been sensational this season, making a full recovery from the ACL injury suffered back in 2020, and there are still plenty of years left in him.
There is no reason why Van Dijk can’t remain at a high level until his late 30s, as someone like Thiago Silva has done at Chelsea, and the idea of him moving on soon after Klopp doesn’t bear thinking about.
The 32-year-old is in his first season as Liverpool captain and he will surely want to have the armband for a fair while yet, before eventually passing it on to likely future skipper Trent Alexander-Arnold.
