Liverpool’s giant problem FIXED with new Van Dijk contract

“Liverpool took an amazing player. [Virgil] Van Dijk is an exceptional central defender. That's a price we'll see (again) in the future. If he plays six or seven years at a high level it would be cheap.”

It is not often I agree with Pep Guardiola but the Manchester City boss had the right idea when asked about Liverpool’s £75million purchase of Virgil van Dijk back in 2017.

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While everyone was losing their heads over the fee, then a world record for a centre-back, the one-time Barcelona boss could see the potential.

Van Dijk is now into his seventh full season as a Liverpool player. People stopped talking about the transfer fee not long after he arrived on Merseyside. It is hard to mock a price tag when the player is putting in almost flawless performances every single time he sets foot on the pitch.

His arrival coincided with Liverpool reaching successive Champions League finals. He was then part of a formidable defensive duo alongside Joe Gomez as the Reds won their first title in three decades.

A duo we've just seen reunited, too, with their sensational performance against Manchester City on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side regularly had the best defensive numbers in the English top-flight as they racked up 90+ points across three seasons. Van Dijk was key to that. You could go as far as saying he was the reason the 2019/20 Premier League champions could play in such a way. The high defensive line only worked because the Dutchman had the speed to match most attackers and the physicality to bully everyone. He was a colossus in the air and this allowed the Reds to pin their opponents back. They had no escape route. No matter who he was paired with in defence, Liverpool, for the most part, were formidable.

He raised Dejan Lovren’s level, and it is no surprise that every other one of his partners has looked like the second-best defender in the league when paired with the No.4. Gomez looked unbelievable, Joel Matip, a free transfer from Schalke, was regarded as one of the best centre-backs in Europe during his run with van Dijk and now the same can be said for Ibrahima Konate.

Why van Dijk is UNIQUE

Van Dijk is a unique player in the sense he’s a ceiling raiser and a floor raiser.

He’s the best in his position, thus raising the ceiling of Liverpool as a defensive unit. But he also levels up everyone else, meaning the floor of this team is raised.

There’s a reason rival fans used to celebrate the Dutch skipper being dribbled past. Their teams weren’t scoring against this Liverpool team so they needed to find other ways to get a dopamine hit.

The ACL injury in 2020 was supposed to be the beginning of the end for van Dijk. Upon his return, it did look like he might’ve slowed down a little.

He wasn’t as quick.

He wasn’t as dominant.

He wasn’t as confident.

But rumours of his demise were extremely premature. He’s, once again, making everyone look foolish. Van Dijk, along with Konate, has been the best centre-back in the Premier League this season. He’s settled into life at Anfield under compatriot Arne Slot. The Reds have the best defensive record in the league, having conceded just six goals, they have the best underlying numbers - they’re the only team in single digits for Expected Goals Against - and they lead the way for Clean Sheets (six).

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He may be 34 in July but his powers don’t appear to be on the wane. He’s shown his pace on a few occasions. He’s as dominant as ever. And he’s got his confidence back.

The Liverpool captain is replicating his peak form for the Reds. Maybe we’re still yet to see his peak. He’s no spring chicken but defenders can play at a higher level for longer than, say, attackers. Sergio Ramos was a headless chicken and he was still playing at 38. Thiago Silva was Chelsea’s best defender at 39. There’s no reason van Dijk can’t be playing at his current level for at least another two years.

Should Reds give Virgil that new deal?

With his deal up in the summer, there’s a lot of debate over whether it is worthwhile extending his deal given he’s one of the highest earners within the squad and, at some point, his powers are going to fade.

But this is all very similar to the discourse surrounding his initial move to Merseyside and he made those doubters look silly. You couldn’t be surprised if he did that again by bossing things for two more years.

He falls into the irreplaceable category at Liverpool. And a time when other such players (read: Mo Salah) aren't necessarily getting a new deal. Van Dijk’s going to give those in charge of recruitment a headache at some point but it doesn’t have to be now.

Get him that deal he deserves.

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