Empire of the Kop
·26 December 2024
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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·26 December 2024
Virgil van Dijk might just have offered the biggest hint yet regarding his future at Liverpool, and fans might just be starting to become giddy with anticipation.
Along with Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, the club captain has just six months remaining on his contract at Anfield and, if a new deal isn’t confirmed by New Year’s Day, he’d be free to speak with overseas suitors about a potential move for next summer.
Speculation over the trio’s futures has been incessant for the past several months, and with each of their situations soon set to come to a head one way or another, the Dutch defender has left supporters in no doubt as to his mindset.
Speaking to Prime Video Sport (via The Mirror), Van Dijk recognises his hero-worship status among the Liverpool fanbase and firmly believes that, even at 33, he still has plenty of mileage in the tank.
The Reds’ number 4 said: “I love the club, the club loves me. I love the fans, the fans love me and it is a very good foundation to be successful. In my opinion I can play for another three, four years at least at the highest level.”
The centre-back also declared that he’d ‘love to be’ the first Dutchman to captain a Premier League-winning side, something he’s currently on course to do if LFC maintain their current position at the summit to the end of this season.
(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
There’s no false modesty from Van Dijk in his statement, and nor should there be – almost seven years to the day that he became a Liverpool player, he’s earned his way into discussions about the club’s greatest centre-backs of all time.
The 33-year-old has backed himself to keep going for a few more seasons, and the form he’s shown in 2024/25 suggests that his career is nowhere near petering out to an anticlimax.
With these comments, he’s given the strongest hint out of him, Salah and Trent about wanting to remain at Anfield beyond the end of the current campaign, and recent projections that a new contract might be imminent seem plausible.
2024 has largely been a pleasant year for Liverpool fans, and it could have a glorious sign-off if a new contract for Van Dijk is announced by the club before the end of December…