Trey Nyoni (L) and Virgil van Dijk (R). Credit: Imago Images
Virgil van Dijk has been in imperious form at the heart of a Liverpool defence who has the best defensive record in the Premier League but his long-term future at the club remains up in the air.
The Liverpool captain is in the final year of his contract and the defender has yet to agree to sign a new deal with the Merseyside giants.
His contract situation coupled with the issues surrounding Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold has led to a period of uncertainty for the club despite the team being second in the Premier League table at this stage of the season.
Van Dijk has remained non-committal about signing a new deal and indicated that he will decide his future only towards the end of the season.
The defender is the leader at Liverpool on and off the pitch and Arne Slot recently admitted that Van Dijk remains the most influential voice inside the dressing room.
Virgil van Dijk reveals plans for the future
Van Dijk has been one of the best centre-backs in the world in the last decade and is likely to go down as one of the greatest to represent the Merseyside giants.
The defender is in the twilight of his career and he has thoughts about his future once he decides to hang up his boots in the coming years.
The Dutchman has stressed that punditry is something he won’t get into as he wants a more relaxed schedule for himself after his playing career is over.
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He wants to give back to football and indicated that he would likely start working with young players to try and impart his knowledge to them from a young age.
Van Dijk wants to stay involved in football but admitted at this stage he has not settled on what exactly he wants to do.
“I said no [to punditry] but that’s also because coming to this hectic, busy, on-it life that my family is sacrificing a lot, my wife and my kids, to then have a year off or two years off and then going back into it… I don’t think I see it happening but never say never”, he said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
“I really feel like I definitely will give something back to football. I love working and seeing younger players out there. I like going, for example, to the Liverpool Academy to watch the under-11, 12, 13. The other day I watched the little tournament on the 16s, if I’m correct, and just a couple of games, but also because of the joy, it’s just nice to see.
“The thing is, when I was younger, I was eight or nine, and we had a training session. The first-team players from my team back then, Willem II, two or three players came and trained with us, and I’ll never forget that.
“I know what kind of impact it makes to the younger boys and the younger generation, but what they give to me as well, seeing them happy and playing with pure joy and nothing in their mind or thinking, oh, yeah, anything, that’s something that brings a lot to me as well.
“Going back to the question, I would love to stay in football in the future. But at this time, I don’t know which kind of role, and it’s too far away to think about it.”
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