Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is pleased centre-back Virgil van Dijk has committed his future to the club and said when it comes to leadership qualities, he has “never worked with a player like him”.
The 32-year-old signed a new two-year contract on Thursday, extending his stay at Anfield to 2027.
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He follows Mohamed Salah, who also signed a new two-year deal, in remaining at the club and Slot acknowledged the significance of tying down two of his most important players.
“It tells you that we want to keep our best players,” Slot told reporters during his pre-match press conference. “The players that have played a great season for so many years in a row now. That we’re able to keep them when they are free agents tells you the ambitions we have for the upcoming years.
“I’m really happy that both of them extended. We spoke about Mo (Salah) last week and Virgil has been so important for us, defensively, offensively, in and around the dressing room, Great personality and a great football player.”
Van Dijk, alongside Salah and Gravenberch has started every Premier League game this season. There is a possibility that a win against Leicester City – if Arsenal lose to Ipswich Town – could seal the title making him Liverpool’s second Premier League winning captain.
“You know how important he is when we see him play,” Slot added. “That’s what we all see. Everybody has given him compliments over the years so many times about how good he is as a defender. I mostly watch football looking at ball possession. He’s so good at bringing the ball out from the back, his diagonal passes towards Mo are known by everyone but the amount of times he plays balls through the lines, the timing when he passes it.
“The leader he is around the AXA training centre – I haven’t worked with a player like him in terms of leadership. The energy he brings to the team in every single training session and how professional he is for himself but also tries to influence his teammates especially the younger ones.
“Ryan (Gravenberch) is a great example of that, he is constantly on him trying to make him even more of a professional than he already is. He’s having a big influence at this club and the main influence is at the weekend and that is what he has to focus on mostly. Hopefully he can do that in the upcoming two seasons as well.”
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Liverpool were also boosted by the return to training of Trent Alexander-Arnold. The right-back, who is now the only key player set to be out of contract this summer, is not ready to start, but Slot is hopeful that the defender will be fit enough to be included on the bench.
Slot would not be drawn on whether he hoped Alexander-Arnold would follow in the footsteps of his teammates and sign a new contract but he reaffirmed how committed the 26-year-old is and has been this season. The Athletic reported on March 25 that Real Madrid were working to close a deal for Alexander-Arnold.
“(He’s) not (ready) to start but, if today and tomorrow go well he might be on the bench, but definitely not start because he’s out for five and a half weeks,” Slot said.
“Today is probably his first session with the team. On Wednesday, he did parts of the team session. He’s not able to start, but hopefully he can join us because for Connor (Bradley), he’s been out for a long time so for him to play 90 (minutes) isn’t easy as well.
“Trent is coming back from an injury. He trained with us yesterday, and every time he plays with us and trains with us, he shows his commitment. He’s worked so hard to be back already now, and the moment he’s on the pitch, he shows me what a great football player he is and how much he’s involved in us trying to achieve our goals this season.
“He’s worked so hard during the whole season and now in his rehab to be back with the team again. The fans of Liverpool, everyone who watches football for the last several years knows that he’s an incredible full-back who has been incredible for this club. Let’s see what the future brings.”
(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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