Virgil van Dijk was in attendance at his youth tournament this weekend, with the Liverpool captain spotted alongside Joel Matip as the Reds' U13s made the semi-finals
Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool's Academy in Kirkby.
Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool's Academy in Kirkby.(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was spotted with his former center-back partner, Joel Matip, this weekend as he attended the youth soccer tournament that he founded in the Netherlands.
Virgil's Legacy Trophy is an under-13 invite-only competition. It takes place in Tilburg, involves 16 elite academy teams from around the continent, and was won by Liverpool last year in the inaugural edition.
This year, the young Reds were narrowly eliminated by Barcelona in the semi-finals. They had topped the group that they were in, with Liverpool legend — and former U18s head coach — Steven Gerrard watching on during that period of the competition.
Van Dijk's other former clubs, Southampton, Celtic and Groningen, are also involved, alongside the likes of Juventus, PSG and AC Milan.
The German giant Bayern Munich won this year's tournament, with Van Dijk presenting them with the trophy.
Elsewhere at the academy, according to This Is Anfield, James Milner has been doing some coaching after hanging up his boots at the end of last season.
The 40-year-old has been working with some of the younger age groups as he takes his first steps in coaching, with Milner long having looked like a good fit for that kind of role.
Liverpool's U18s won 4-2 against Burnley this weekend with Joe Dixon, Charlie Huth, AJ Yeguo and Erik Farkas all scoring.
The Reds' U21s will be in action later today at West Ham, having beaten Leeds last time out.
Some of the young talents who have impressed Andoni Iraola so far could also be handed a chance in the Carabao Cup tie with Tottenham on Tuesday.
Content Image
Content Image
Trey Nyoni and Lewis Koumas would appear to be the most likely youngsters to get a start. James McConnell and others may also come into contention.
Liverpool.com says: It will be interesting to see what Van Dijk does when he retires, not that he needs to be doing that any time soon. Like Milner, he could become a coach.
He would also be an interesting pundit, or he might choose to do something completely different. Setting up this youth tournament suggests he is thinking about what the future might hold to some degree.