Virgil van Dijk has admitted that he remains uncertain about his Liverpool future as his contract runs down at Anfield.
The Reds’ skipper has been in wonderful form this season but his current deal expires in just under 18 months. Jurgen Klopp’s recent announcement that he will quit as Liverpool boss this summer is unlikely to have helped the Dutchman make his mind up regarding an extension to his contract.
The 32-year-old said: “Listen, I don’t know [about the future]. The club will have a big job on their hands. That is well known. To replace the manager and replace not only the manager, the staff is leaving, and there are so many things that will change.
“So the club has a big job on its hands and I am very curious which direction that will go in. But when that will be announced we will see our situation, I can’t say now.”
Liverpool will be desperate to renew Van Dijk’s deal, with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s contracts also up in just over a year
The manager, famously, has been adamantly against the singing of ‘Jurgen is a Red’ (to the tune of the Beatles’ ‘I Feel Fine’) during matches for superstitious reasons – even castigating supporters earlier this season for starting the chant ahead of the final whistle of the win over Bournemouth back in August.
However, in light of recent events, the boss has taken a more laid-back approach.
Klopp said after victory over Norwich City on Sunday: “I said not too long ago ‘don’t sing the song during the game’. People obviously stopped already listening to me, so that’s good! But it’s fine.
“We won the game and scored after that, so the reason for being superstitious (about singing that song) was done. It was great.”
Klopp has suggested there is plenty more to come from Liverpool’s academy following the Reds’ 5-2 win over Norwich, with the German name-checking a number of the club’s high-potential youngsters.
Speaking after the match, Klopp said: “You don’t know a few [youth team players] yet! Maybe you know them, but they were not with us yet on the pitch. There’s a lot to come still, really, there.
“Today Bobby Clark didn’t come on and I think he did particularly well in the last few games, Trey [Nyoni] and [Jayden Danns] Dannsy are special as well from the Under-18s, [Lewis] Koumas.”
Clark has already earned some minutes in the cup competitions this season, including coming off the bench in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Fulham.
Liverpool are set to take on Premier League rivals Manchester United and Arsenal in the United States during their pre-season preparations for the 2024/25 campaign, according to The Athletic.
Liverpool will participate in their first pre-season without Jurgen Klopp since he arrived at Anfield in October 2015 and will face clashes with some of their mighty Premier League foes.
Top Premier League clubs are hoping to cash in on the excitement in the build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Liverpool welcomed a number of important players back to the team on Sunday, with the likes of Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai all getting minutes under their belt.
While positive news, it will give Klopp a selection headache ahead of the Blues’ visit, with Liverpool’s fringe players having performed superbly in the absence of key personnel.
Anfield Watch took a look at how the Reds might line up, with starts for the likes of Joe Gomez, Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez.
