August 13, (THEWILL) – After making a long-awaited return from his lengthy injury, Liverpool’s mercurial centre-back Virgil van Dijk has sweetened the delicacy of his imposing presence at the back with the signing a new long-term contract at Anfield in a deal that will keep him with the Reds until 2025.
Negotiations with the club and representatives of van Dijk had persisted through the summer with the Dutch international pledging his future to continue the remarkable period he has had in Liverpool since arriving. Every aspect of their talks went unhindered and terms of the contract were concluded when van Dijk appended his signature to the deal.
It is a contract that recognises van Dijk’s consistency in defense for the former English Premier League champions and comes as a reward for the over three-and-a-half years hard work the 30-year-old has put in that time to establish himself as one of the finest centre-backs in the world.
He joins the likes of Anfield’s biggest stars like Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold to sign a new deal at Liverpool this summer, seeing as the club makes good progress in tying down their to talent for the long term. They have also retained some younger squad members with Harvey Elliott, Caoimhin Kelleher and Adrian all signed on.
It is a testament to the priority the Anfield side has placed on player retention. It made up a key strategy of their summer recruitment plans. In that same vein, they have begun to press for new deals for players such as Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson. This helps cement Klopp’s objective to keep the nucleus of the current squad together for the foreseeable future.
THEWILL recalls that Liverpool broke their transfer record to secure the signing of van Dijk when they recruited him from Southampton in January three years ago for the pricey fee of £75million. As expensive as he was, van Dijk more than paid the club back with his transformational impact on Liverpool’s fortunes under Klopp in the seasons that followed.
On their way to success in the 2019 UEFA Champions League, the Netherlands captain was an immense part of the progress in defense and made a huge impact in attack to bring that trophy back to Anfield. Then, he replicated that form in 2020 as Klopp’s men lifted a first league title at Anfield in 30 years.
But, just as Liverpool were dreaming of defending the domestic title last season, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament damage during the 2-2 draw with Everton in mid-October that collapsed his season. Gratefully, van Dijk returned to action after nine months to play a part in Liverpool’s pre-season preparations for the 2021/2022 campaign.
A new deal ahead of the start of that season will jell well for van Dijk as he resumes to his standard fare in front of the Liverpool keeper. A lot will be expected of him to seal the cracks in the defense and make Liverpool once more one of the favourites to take the trophy in what is promising to be a thrilling and tough EPL season.
He is ready for the challenge as his post-signing comments reveal. He said ahead of Liverpool’s opener against Norwich on Saturday: “All the hard work we’ve put in so far continues and I am looking forward to what the future brings together with Liverpool.
“I’m delighted, very happy and proud. I feel like I am ready for the weekend, so we’ll see what the manager decides.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
