Virgil van Dijk Signs on for Two More Years | OneFootball

Hot on the heels of Mo Salah confirming that he has signed a new contract that will keep him at Liverpool until 2027, the club captain has done exactly the same thing. Virgil van Dijk today announced that he will still be a Red for another two seasons, which is music to the ears of everyone associated with the club.

The Dutch defender was one of three players whose contracts were up in the summer, with Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold being the others. As the old saying goes, two out of three ain’t bad. What does it mean for Liverpool’s long-term ambitions?

He’s Still One of the Best Around

The simple truth is that Liverpool would’ve been absolutely mad to allow Virgil van Dijk to leave the club for free this summer. Although he is 34 in July, defenders can last longer than other players, and that is especially true of centre-backs. Although he’s looked a little shaky in recent games, the only people upset he’s signing a new contract will be opposition attackers and supporters.

He has plenty of time left at the top of the game and it is great news for Liverpool that he’s going to spend that time at Anfield rather than at a club that might be able to stop us from winning stuff.

Arsenal supporters love to crow about the likes of Gabriel and there’s no doubt that he’s a decent defender, but van Dijk is head and shoulders above him. What fans want to do more than anything else is be able to watch the best players in their position run out week after week wearing their club’s colours, which is exactly what we’re going to get.

The fact that his deal includes ‘performance-related’ means that we’ll only have to pay him top whack if he’s achieving the kind of level on the pitch that we all want to see from him and his teammates.

It Takes the Pressure Off Any Succession Planning

The reality of the matter is that van Dijk, like Salah, is getting older. Whilst we’d all love to watch the two of them playing at their very best for another decade or two, at some point we’re going to have to bid them goodbye. That means that replacements need to be found, which is something that Richard Hughes and his team are no doubt spending many a day and night thinking about.

What van Dijk signing a new contract means is that there is no immediate pressure to bring anyone in and the recruitment team can take their time to ensure that they make the right decision, not the quickest one.

There are rumours that the Reds are interested in left-sided defender Dean Huijsen at Bournemouth, for example. Hughes was the Sporting Director at the Cherries before he joined Liverpool, so he will know all about him. If he’s keen to bring him to Anfield then it will be because he believes that he’s good enough, whilst his age also means that he could be seen as van Dijk’s long-term successor.

With the Dutchman having signed a new contract, we could look to sign his compatriot this summer and give him time to settle and learn from the best in the business.

Many More Trophies to Come?

Both Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah know that they don’t have many years left at the top of the profession. That means that they will be more than aware of the fact that their ability to lift trophies is limited; at least as far as the trophies that matter are concerned. Neither of them will have been as keen to sign new deals and as quick to stick around as they have been if they didn’t believe that they could win those trophies with the Reds.

Seeing the Champions League open up as much as it has done will hurt both of them, knowing we could’ve won it, but this means there will be more chances to do so.

It is worth bearing in mind that this is Arne Slot’s first season in England, so he will have learnt a lot about the demands put upon players competing for several trophies at the same time. There is no reason to think that Liverpool won’t be even stronger next term, thanks to the fact that the Dutch coach will have worked out what he needs to do to be able to go for both the Premier League and the Champions League and keep everyone fit and firing for long enough to do so.

There is no guarantee of anything, but the Reds stand more chance of winning with the captain and the Egyptian King in the squad.