The Spanish media have a knack for trying to stir the pot before a match, and Virgil van Dijk has been the subject of wild claims hours before Liverpool face Real Madrid.
Here we are, hours away from Liverpool facing Real Madrid in the Champions League, and the Spanish media are up to their old tricks.
However, their bid to create any disruption is wasted when it comes to Van Dijk, who proudly stated after signing a new two-year deal in April that it was “was always Liverpool.”
Diario AS, a Madrid-based paper, however, would have you believe that the 34-year-old “fought tooth and nail” to try and sign for Real Madrid last season.
Jose Felix Diaz audaciously penned that Van Dijk’s “agents contacted Spanish representatives to try and establish a direct connection with Real Madrid and open a door that had always remained closed.”
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FRANKFURT, GERMANY - Wednesday, October 22, 2025: Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk after the UEFA Champions League match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Liverpool FC at the Waldstadion. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Van Dijk’s extension was then phrased as having “waited until almost the last minute before finally accepting” Liverpool’s terms, with Van Dijk left “hoping” Real Madrid would come to the table.
It is then bizarrely stated that the Dutchman’s ACL injury from 2022 was “undoubtedly one of the reasons” why Los Blancos decided against making an offer.
Not that he has gone on to remain the world’s best in the years since – you decide which part of the ‘report’ is more unbelievable!
A timely claim from Spain as Van Dijk prepares to face Real Madrid once more, not that he will be interested in the slightest in what has been said about him.
There is no other way to sign off than to use the captain’s words from when his new contract was announced: “It was always Liverpool. That was the case.
“It was always in my head, it was always the plan and it was always Liverpool.
“There wasn’t any doubt in my head that this is the place to be for me and my family. I’m one of Liverpool.
“Someone called me the other day an adopted Scouser – I’m really proud to hear these things, it gives me a great feeling.”