Virgil van Dijk is reportedly eager to remain at Liverpool beyond the end of his current contract and is thought to have made two requests to the Anfield hierarchy over a prospective new deal.
As it stands, the club captain is due to become a free agent at the end of this season, with prospective suitors able to approach him about a pre-contract agreement from January if his future on Merseyside isn’t resolved by then.
The Netherlands defender publicly declared after the win over Chelsea on Sunday that ‘discussions are ongoing’ over a potential new deal with LFC, adding that he’s fully committed to the cause in the meantime.
Van Dijk wants two-year contract extension
On Tuesday morning, TEAMtalk reported that Liverpool are ‘very much in favour’ of tying down Van Dijk to a new contract, with the 33-year-old thought to be keen on extending his stay at Anfield.
The captain is believed to be seeking a further two years at the club, keeping him here until the summer of 2027, and he also wants the new deal to match his current wage of £220,000 per week.
LFC are apparently likely to suggest a compromise of a one-year extension with the option of a further 12 months, and the report adds that there’s a ‘calmness and confidence’ that a mutually satisfactory agreement will be struck in the near future.
Strong chance that Van Dijk and Liverpool reach agreement
First and foremost, it’s very encouraging to hear that Van Dijk is eager to stay at Liverpool beyond next summer and wants to be here for at least two more full seasons.
With the club reportedly keen to offer him a new deal until 2026 at the earliest, it offers much hope that an agreement will be reached, so long as the negotiating parties don’t have irreconcilable differences over the length of any proposed contract.
Pragmatically it mightn’t be the sagest move to continue offering such vast wages to a player who’s rapidly approaching his mid-30s, but this is one instance where making an exception could be the more sensible option, given how tough it’d be to replace the Dutchman next summer.
A medium-term extension would ensure that Liverpool retain Van Dijk while he’s still performing to a very high level consistently, while also giving them breathing space to identify and secure a long-term successor at centre-back.
It’s a situation which should already have been resolved given his importance to the club, but the signs over the past 48 hours are that progress is being made and that all parties involved are keen for an agreement to be reached. Hopefully that long-awaited moment will materialise sooner rather than later.
