What Virgil van Dijk told Liverpool chiefs before Champions League final

Photo/ David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images Virgil van Dijk has told the club he wants to sign a new deal at Anfield ahead of Champions League final. The Dutchman has proved himself to be one of the best players in the world and Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur means he has now won the biggest competition in club football. Van Dijk’s £75million arrival in January 2018 may be remembered as the starting point of a new era of success for the Merseyside giants. Every football fan would struggle to find another player who has made as much of an impact as he has in 18 months for the Reds. According to ESPN, Van Dijk has already made it clear he wants to sign a new deal - and told Liverpool chiefs of his decision before the victory over Spurs. ESPN pundit Shaka Hislop isn't convinced Van Dijk will put pen to paper on a new deal at Anfield. “I think this is just Van Dijk’s representatives doing as any good representatives should,” Hislop said. “You’ve got PFA Player of the Year, you’ve come as close as you have in quite some time in winning a Premier League title, you’re newly crowned European champions. I don’t think questioned that Van Dijk was the best player on the park in that final. “Given how good and how important he has been to Liverpool, you’re right, go and knock on the door. If I’m his agent, as much as I’m having discussions with Liverpool right now and I know those will drag on, you’d expect given the time left on his contract it’s going to be at least another year before they really consider putting pen to paper. But in the meantime I’m whispering to clubs like Real Madrid [saying]: ‘listen, he’s the best centre-back in the world, aren’t you interested?’. And all of a sudden you start staying in that hornet’s nest, I think it plays out all the better when you do finally sit down to put pen to paper.”

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