Virgil van Dijk was sent home early from international duty and it still remains unclear whether he is being rested or nursing a possible injury.
The Dutch national team declared the return to Merseyside was on ‘medical grounds’ but many supporters assumed he was being rested ahead of a meaningless Nations League match.
However, Liverpool have now also commented and published on their website: ‘Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk will not be involved in the Netherlands’ second fixture of this international window on Tuesday night.
‘The centre-back has departed the Dutch camp ahead of their UEFA Nations League tie at Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was announced this morning.
‘Van Dijk skippered his country to a 4-0 victory over Hungary in Amsterdam on Saturday evening that confirmed their qualification to the Nations League quarter-finals before the next match.
‘He will return to the AXA Training Centre this week for assessment ahead of the Reds’ campaign resuming with a trip to Southampton on Sunday.’
It’s still not been confirmed whether there is an actual fitness issue present, which could worry our fans as nothing has been ruled in or out at this stage.
It would make sense for Ronald Koeman to not want to risk the player for a game that has no importance but it would seemingly then be a gesture that was also extended to both Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch – neither of whom are heading back to the UK.
Confusion remains present over Virgil van Dijk’s current fitness
It seems likely that there has been a priority placed on ensuring the 33-year-old is given the rest time that he may need in order to keep performing at the highest level for the Reds.
However, there is enough confusion present to either fear this could be more sinister or think there may be some deliberate dodging of the real reason for this decision.
Our captain may face some backlash if he was to leave camp early so this ambiguity could help ensure no criticism is fired in the direction of him or his manager.
After the latest update on his contract, let’s just hope this extra time at home can be spent agreeing a new deal.
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