Van Dijk approaches made as Liverpool contract details emerge
Liverpool’s quest for their 20th top-flight league title in English football has been overshadowed by the contractual situations of their key players.
The Reds are on course to secure this season’s Premier League, with 11 points from the next seven league games enough to earn their first triumph in the post-Jurgen Klopp era.
However, some issues have lingered at Anfield throughout the campaign, namely the contract situations of several stars.
But there was good news on that front this week and some more details have emerged now on the future of captain and star centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk close to signing new Liverpool deal
Van Dijk is edging closer to a new deal with an extension set to be penned, according to Sky Sports German reporter Florian Plettenberg.
Van Dijk, like Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, was due to be a free agent in the summer once his contract ran out.
However, Plettenberg reports the 33-year-old centre-back has decided to stay at the Merseyside club despite receiving numerous approaches from other clubs—all of which he has turned down.
Also backed up by The Athletic, terms centred around a two-year renewal are in the final stages of discussion, which would keep him at the club until 2027—marking nine years at Liverpool.
What about Salah and Alexander-Arnold?
While solving Van Dijk’s future brings much-needed clarity to the Liverpool ranks going into the summer – with the need for defensive renovations lessened by his renewal – the uncertainty still hangs around two more of Liverpool’s superstars.
The reports on Salah’s Liverpool future have progressed significantly, with confidence growing around a new deal. Salah had stated he was “probably more out than in” regarding his future at Liverpool in November, but since then, he has kept on producing, with negotiations bending significantly in his favour.
As for Alexander-Arnold, all signals point to Real Madrid. Los Blancos have pursued a deal, privately and publicly, for a couple of years and have been able to tempt boyhood Reds fan Alexander-Arnold to Spain, from all accounts.
The departure of any three would’ve stung, but with Van Dijk’s impending continual, Arne Slot has his leader figure signed on with firm intention of immediate tilt at all fronts next season.