- Virgil Van Dijk reveals there is no contract offer on the table from Liverpool yet
- The Reds captain says he is ready for the new season under new boss Arne Slot
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There is still no contract offer on the table for Virgil van Dijk as the Liverpool captain enters the final season of his deal with the Reds.
Liverpool produced a convincing display as they beat Spanish side Sevilla 4-1 at Anfield on Sunday (Luis Diaz scored twice, while Diogo Jota and teenager Trey Nyoni also scored) to make it four wins from four games in front of a crowd to begin the Arne Slot era.
These were Van Dijk’s first minutes under Slot’s coaching after the Dutchman returned from a three-week break following the European Championship. The defender says there is still no move to sign a new contract with the club.
When asked about the issue, Van Dijk grumbled and laughed slightly because it is a question he is asked almost every week during the club’s season. He said: “There are no changes at the moment.”
It is a worrying issue for Liverpool and their new sporting director Richard Hughes, who is yet to make a first-team signing since joining from Bournemouth and officially beginning his role at the Merseyside club in June.
Virgil Van Dijk has revealed that there are still no contract offers on the table from Liverpool
The Dutch defender’s current contract expires next year, with his future at Anfield in doubt.
Star striker Mohamed Salah and homegrown youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold, the vice-captain, also have just 11 months remaining on their current contracts. This means that, without intervention, three of Liverpool’s most prized assets will not be at the club next year.
Van Dijk said in the spring that he wanted to see what things were like under the new coaching regime before committing his future to the club and, when asked about his first impressions of Slot, he said: “So far so good.
‘Obviously we do a lot of work on the training pitch, both tactically and physically, to get ourselves fit. Today was the last big test before we get into the real thing and I feel like we’re ready for it. Hopefully we can prove that as well, because going there (Ipswich) on Saturday is going to be tough.
“We communicate with each other and have a lot of tactical meetings where we see what we can improve. The finer details are very important to improve our game and I think that’s what we all want. We all have to show that desire and so far, so good.”
As for the changes Slot has undergone, Van Dijk said: “We focus a lot on building play, we have a lot more responsibility for our centre-backs with and without the ball. But obviously our midfielders are important too.
“And I think we try to create certain patterns in what the opponent does against us. I think you can see in the way we play that the moments we have during the game look good. Obviously, they still need to be perfected and we still need to be flexible.
Van Dijk says he is ready for the upcoming new season under new boss Arne Slot
“We try to play short, but when you play man-to-man, you have to think about playing harder with the first and second row and then running and getting the second ball. So I think we have to find the right balance in that sense, but you can clearly see the patterns.”
Van Dijk said he was deeply hurt by losing the Euro semi-final against England, when Ollie Watkins scored a last-minute winner for the Three Lions in Germany. “I had three weeks off and I would say the first week I went through a lot of emotions.
‘(I was coming) from a semi-final defeat against England that hurt me a lot and then, obviously, you’re going to think about the whole year you had personally and also, especially, how we were as a team against Liverpool.
‘Towards the end we lacked that experience, we lacked the quality, there were some injuries here and there, and multiple things that didn’t go our way, but hopefully we can learn from that and take it with us this season and show that consistency in the latter part of the season.
Van Dijk said he was deeply hurt by losing the European Championship semi-final to England last month.
“It’s a lot more than just playing the games, it’s how you approach it outside of the games and the mental part is very important and it’s not easy. Everyone will reflect on last year, I definitely did and I’m looking forward to this season in many ways and we’ll see what happens.
“Obviously I think we should make some signings depending on how long the season lasts, but I think they are working behind the scenes. I have full confidence and trust that the club will do the right thing and get the best possible team to compete in all competitions.”
