Image for “I can assure you…” – Potentially devastating Liverpool exit claim has now emerged
Image for “I can assure you…” – Potentially devastating Liverpool exit claim has now emerged
Liverpool supporters will be desperate for Virgil van Dijk to extend his stay at the club beyond this season, but a worrying exit claim has now dropped.
The Dutchman is on international duty with the Netherlands currently, and has been on fiery form, clashing with a reporter last week about comments he had made:
“A colleague of yours said that I had said we should play with five defenders against Morocco. That was blown out of proportion. It is sheer nonsense. Nonsense is being spread to make me look even worse. That happens far too often. I was told that Ronald (Koeman) and I have destroyed Dutch football. That goes much too far for me.”
Van Dijk is in the final year of his current Liverpool deal, with no extension on the horizon as things stand, so there will be understandable speculation about his future.
In quotes cited by TEAMtalk, journalist Carlo Pellegatti has talked up the idea of the 25-year-old sealing a move to Serie A giants AC Milan at the end of this season:
“Every now and then, people make fun of me for saying Van Dijk would join, but then they had done the same the January before Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived.
“I continue to say that Gerry Cardinale (Milan’s owner) made clear: ‘Either we get him now by paying or next year for free.’ I said that Van Dijk will arrive at Milan sooner or later.’
“We’ll see if Cardinale changes his mind or not, but I can assure you it was not just a name I pulled out of thin air.”
Virgil van Dijk is still too good for Liverpool to lose
Van Dijk may now be 35, but the Liverpool captain is still performing at an elite level and remains one of the best central defenders in world football.
For that reason, losing him on a free transfer next summer would be a massive blow for the Reds, with the Netherlands international still more than capable of excelling for another two or three years.
Van Dijk appears to be happy at Liverpool, which makes offering him a new deal a no-brainer, and it feels more likely that he would accept an offer than turn it down.
Many of Europe’s biggest clubs would love to have him in their ranks, including Milan, and Jamie Carragher rightly believes he is among the true Reds greats throughout history:
“I’m talking like Stevie [Steven Gerrard], Kenny Dalglish, [Graeme] Souness, Alan Hansen, John Barnes, Mo Salah, the top sort of seven or eight players. Without a doubt he is right in the middle of that. And he’s not at the bottom of the list, I can assure you. He will go down as one of the greatest players ever to play for Liverpool – not one of the greatest centre-backs, one of the greatest players.”
Hopefully, both Van Dijk and Alisson put pen to paper on contract extensions sooner rather than later – losing both at the same time would feel like a significant moment, and not in a good way.