Ageless star defies all logic but Liverpool up against the clock to agree deal

Liverpool are up against the clock to agree a deal with a true anomaly of a player. He defies all logic and the Reds simply must get things sorted.

Liverpool have some enormous decisions to make in 2027, particularly in defence. Or with how the team defends as a whole, even - we fully expect, for instance, some sort of defensive midfielder to arrive either in January or next summer.

But they’ve also got to make decisions across the back line and in goal. Alisson Becker’s contract will expire, of course, and we’re not certain the squad is future-proofed against that.

Right-back? Jeremie Frimpong isn’t the answer and no one is sure what Conor Bradley will be like post-injury. Kostas Tsimikas is out of contract at left-back, so there will need to be a signing there.

Ronald Araujo is on loan, meaning Liverpool must decide to make that permanent or not, while Joe Gomez’s contract expires in the summer. Then, on top of it all, there’s the big one.

Virgil van Dijk's contract situation

Virgil van Dijk is out of contract in the summer and he's essentially irreplaceable. Even if you somehow find a player of his quality, they won't have his experience or his leadership. It's pretty much an impossible situation.

On quality alone, Van Dijk gets a new contract but things aren't that simple. He turns 36 next summer and Liverpool don't like handing out big contracts to players over 30 - let alone over 35.

We saw the battle with this two years ago, ultimately leading to a new deal in the April. Will Liverpool go down the same road and gamble on Van Dijk maintaining his level for more years?

It's a very tricky one. No players really maintain their form beyond 35, it's incredibly rare and especially for players in high-intensity teams with a high-line - and that's especially so for defenders operating within those high-lines.

But as pointed out by STATSports, Van Dijk is not normal. He found himself up against Antoine Semenyo in a chase last weekend as the winger reached the second-highest top speed of any Premier League player this season at 35.74 km/h.

The result? Van Dijk running at 34.94 km/h and winning the ball. That is insane. 35-year-old centre-backs don't do that.

Which presents a new point: should Van Dijk actually be judged on historical precedence? Or is the Dutchman just a completely different type of player who should be judged entirely on his own merit?

He's pointed out before that he was a late bloomer in football, not playing regularly at senior level until he was comfortably into his 20s. Maybe that late start will truly buy him many more years at the top level.

Liverpool will soon have to decide if that's the case. And it's a decision that they really cannot afford to get wrong.