Liverpool has finally started moving to renew Virgil van Dijk's contract.
England's The Athletic signed a new contract with the Dutch defender on the 4th (Korea time) "Liverpool made a contract offer to end uncertainty over Van Dyke's future. In negotiations with Van Dijk, Liverpool made the first offer to keep the player after June next year."
Van Dijk was active in Southampton in the winter transfer market in the 2017-2018 season and transferred after being offered by Liverpool. At that time, Liverpool paid the highest transfer fee ever for a centre-back. There were many evaluations that they were panic-buying, but Liverpool's recruitment of Van Dijk became a great move.
This is because the last puzzle of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp was Van Dijk. After Van Dijk was added, Liverpool's defense became a completely different team. Van Dijk is starting to be recognized as the best defender in the world beyond the English Premier League (EPL).
The achievement that was recognized is the second place in the 2019 Ballon d'Or. After Fabio Cannavaro won the first Ballon d'Or as a defender at the 2006 Ballon d'Or, it was widely considered that Van Dyke would continue that history. Unfortunately, however, Van Dijk lost to Lionel Messi in the vote. Van Dijk's performance in the 2018-2019 season was great just because he was second in the Ballon d'Or, but he was comparable to Messi in his heyday.
Van Dijk has never shown a world-class performance since moving to Liverpool. After signing Van Dijk, Liverpool brought all the trophies it could win, including the EPL and the UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Van Dijk's contract with Liverpool expires at the end of this season. Fans wanted Van Dijk to stay as he showed his performance was the most important in Liverpool this season.
Liverpool slightly missed Van Dijk's renewal timing, but Liverpool also offered to renew the contract. It's a big step forward, but there's no agreement yet. The Athletic explained "This proposal fell short of van Dijk expectations and so far there has been no breakthrough in the value or duration of the extension." It is expected that an agreement will be reached through negotiations in the future.
In addition to Van Dijk, Liverpool's renewal of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander Arnold is also a very important issue. The Athletic said the 32-year-old Salah had not yet received any offers to extend his recent Anfield career. This has been accurate so far but is expected to change soon. Talks are also going on between Liverpool and Alexander Arnold. Alexander Arnold has sparked interest from Real Madrid but, like his teammates, it is still unclear how the matter will end."
rlaeotlr2024@sportschosun.com
