Saudi Pro League releases STATEMENT on Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has been the subject of offers from Saudi Arabia.

Virgil van Dijk is out of contract in the summer and we could well be witnessing the end of his Liverpool career. It's a tough one to take.

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Van Dijk has been sensational for the Reds and will go down as one of the best we've ever seen. This season, too, he's been imperious as Liverpool march towards the Premier League title.

So why on earth could he leave?

Liverpool have concerns over his longevity, essentially. Van Dijk is the second-highest-paid player in the squad (though, some way short of Mo Salah) and is 33. He'll turn 34 in July.

A decline is around the corner, no matter what. He's simply not going to be the best centre-back on the planet when he's 40 and so sometime between then and now, his ability will drop.

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Liverpool don't want to pay him enormous amounts of money only for that drop to come next year. They'd view that as a financial disaster, especially if they put him on a two or three-year contract.

Their hesitance, however, is not shared everywhere.

Saudi Arabia wants Virgil van Dijk

Van Dijk is one of the biggest names in football and so it makes sense that Saudi Arabia would want him. They’ve apparently made their move.

365scores reports that several offers went to Van Dijk from Saudi clubs. He has rejected all of them.

They quote 'an official source from the Saudi Pro League' as saying: “Van Dijk rejected all offers made to him from the Saudi League in the recent period.

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“We learned from those close to Van Dijk that his first desire is to continue in Europe after the end of his contract with Liverpool, and therefore the idea of ​​his coming has been ruled out for now, but all possibilities remain possible.”

Now, Anfield Watch exclusively reported in November that Van Dijk plans on staying with Liverpool. We still understand that's the case.

That came from his agent cutting off all talks with other clubs, signalling a complete desire to negotiate with the Reds and find a deal. As far as we know, that's still the case.

Certainly, the Saudi Pro League failing to convince him to talk leans into that. We remain confident, then, that Van Dijk will be sticking around after this season.

But we'll see what happens. Van Dijk, along with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah, are all still heading towards that exit door unless Liverpool find an agreement.

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