Virgil van Dijk has been told there is ‘only one club’ he should consider leaving Liverpool for.
Van Dijk has looked back to his very best for title-chasing Liverpool this season, starring in a defence that has conceded just 16 goals in 16 games under Arne Slot.
Liverpool’s defensive record looked even better before they shipped three but still beat Tottenham in a chaotic 6-3 win in north London on Sunday evening.
Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold have all entered the final 12 months of their contracts at Anfield and all three are free to talk to other clubs come January 1.
Salah’s contract stand-off with Liverpool has dominated headlined and Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with Real Madrid, but Van Dijk’s future has gone somewhat under the radar.
Ex-Manchester United defender Jaap Stam believes Liverpool should do everything they can to keep Van Dijk at Anfield and has questioned the Dutchman’s options if he was to leave.
‘I could see Virgil van Dijk saying in Europe, but he is playing in a Liverpool team that he knows very well and they have a real balance,’ Stam told Sport Lens.
‘If he goes and joins another club he will have new team-mates and his whole situation will change. You can say that the players at Bayern Munich or PSG aren’t up to the level of his team-mates at Liverpool.
‘The style of play will change and it could be a bad thing for his career to leave. Look at how it was for Lionel Messi when he first joined PSG from Barcelona.
‘It’s going to be a very important decision for him and the club and I think that Real Madrid might be the only good option for him in Europe at the moment.
‘Maybe he could play for a few years in the United States to see out his career, earning a lot of money.
‘But I still see him as being a really important player at Liverpool and I can’t see why Liverpool wouldn’t try their best to keep him at the club because of that importance.
‘I think he deserves a new contract and a new deal, maybe only for one season, and then you see where you go from there.
‘You have to look at who would replace him in the transfer market or the academy but that’s extremely hard to do.
‘It’s going to be very difficult to replace a player like Virgil and he deserves another one or two years, he’s shown he is still the best option for the club.
‘Sir Alex Ferguson has said it was a mistake to sell me at Manchester United and Liverpool don’t want to make that same mistake with Virgil van Dijk.
‘They are not in a position in which they need to let him go and even though he is 33, you cannot bring in a player of his level.’
Van Dijk is closing in on 300 Liverpool appearances and has helped the Reds win both the Premier League and Champions League following his £75m move from Southampton in 2018.
Liverpool’s victory over Spurs on Sunday means Arne Slot’s side will sit four points clear at the top of the Premier League on Christmas Day.
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