Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk admits his future is uncertain, following Jurgen Klopp exit

Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool gestures during the Carabao Cup Semi Final First Leg match between Liverpool and Fulham at Anfield on January 10, 2024 in Liverpool, England.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Look away now Liverpool fans.

After the bombshell announcement that Jurgen Klopp would be leaving Anfield at the end of the season after nine years at the helm, Virgil van Dijk has admitted he “doesn’t know” if he will remain on Merseyside beyond the end of his contract.

The Dutch centre-back, who turns 33 this summer, has been paramount to Liverpool’s recent success but his deal is up at the end of next season.

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk leaves the pitch after being sent off against Newcastle in the Premier League in August 2023.

Virgil van Dijk could follow Klopp out of the Anfield door (Image credit: Getty Images)

“The club will have a big job on their hands, that is well known,” Van Dijk said. “To replace the manager and replace not only the manager, the staff is leaving, and there are so many things that will change, so the club has a big job on its hands.

“I am very curious which direction that will go in. But when that will be announced we will see our situation. I can’t say now.”

Pushed further if he thinks he will be part of the post-Klopp era, he added: “That’s a big question. Well, I don’t know.”

Van Dijk joined from Southampton in January 2018 and played a key role in Liverpool’s 2019 Champions League win and the Reds’ first domestic title in 30 years.

Jordan Henderson speaking to the media as an AAjax player in January 2024.

Several key Reds stars have departed in the last couple of years (Image credit: Getty Images)

Liverpool are currently top of the Premier League and Van Dijk, who was given the armband after the departure of Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia last summer, insisted he remains fully committed to giving Klopp the perfect send-off and adding another Premier League title to the club’s roll of honour.Re

“Obviously it will be the end of Jurgen Klopp’s era, I am very glad that I am still part of it,” he added. “That is why I don’t like to speak about it. I am still part of it. That is my main focus now and we will see at the end of the season.

“Hopefully we have the success that we all dream of and fight for each and every day. By then, there will probably be more clarification about what the club wants for the future and then we will see.”

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Andy Wright

Andy is a freelance sports journalist whose work has appeared across a number of print and online titles, including Golf Monthly, Eurosport and TNT Sports. He graduated in 2019 and began his career working in golf before joining Future in February 2021 as a staff writer for Golf Monthly. Andy has since decided to branch out into other sports and now covers football, rugby, snooker, UFC, Formula 1, boxing, and others. He is a Manchester United fan and joins the FourFourTwo team at an interesting time for his club and the game as a whole.