Virgil van Dijk on Saudi radar as Liverpool contract talks update emerges
Virgil van Dijk is reportedly on the radar of the Saudi Pro League amid a stall in contract renewal talks with Liverpool, according to TEAMtalk.
The outlet reported (18 June) that after rumours emerged about Al Nassr being interested in his signature [Marca, 13 June], the club now consider him a “primary target”.
TEAMtalk also noted that the Public Investment Fund will “meet his entourage soon”. However, there have been “no concrete offers” from the Saudi team yet.
Why Liverpool need to block Virgil van Dijk from leaving the club
Despite turning 33 next month, the Netherlands international is still one of the best defenders in world football, if not the best.
The towering centre-back has been at the top of his game ever since arriving on Merseyside and has been the Reds’ on-pitch leader.
This summer Liverpool’s priority should be to strengthen their defence with moves for Jeremie Frimpong [SportBild, 11 June] and Leny Yoro [Mundo Deportivo, 16 June] already being discussed by the club.
Granted, this isn’t the only area of the pitch that the Reds need to upgrade, but the addition of any of these players would improve the team tenfold.
However, if Van Dijk departs, it would leave Arne Slot with a gaping hole in his defence and would leave the Netherlands manager with yet another selection headache.
At the time of writing (18 June) Liverpool only have three natural centre-backs within their ranks.
If Van Dijk were to leave, the Reds would be seriously light at the back and would no doubt struggle to replace the former Southampton man.
However, with the recent development of the Reds “closely monitoring” Crystal Palace star, Marc Guehi surfacing, the Anfield club could be preparing for life without their star man for the 2024/25 season.
Although these are all just rumours, the fact that contract extension talks have reportedly stalled remains something that Reds fans should keep an eye on over the summer.
In other Liverpool news, National media reacted to the performance of Trent Alexander-Arnold in England’s Euro 2024 opener.
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