Virgil van Dijk in uncomfortable exchange with a Spanish journalist about the future of Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk deflected questions about his Liverpool future during an awkward post-match interview with a Spanish journalist.
the central He is approaching the final months of his contract with the reds along with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Van Dijk, the club captain at Anfield, revealed in October that discussions over a new deal are 'in progress' and reports on Thursday even suggested he had agreed to extend his stay.
However, talkSPORT understands that these rumors are misplaced and the defender's future remains unresolved, and a journalist from El Chiringuito took the opportunity to ask for clarity.
“Your future, will you stay here?” he asked Van Dijk afterwards Liverpool's 2-0 Champions League victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
“What a direct question of yours, they don't ask it so directly to me!” responded the defender, apparently surprised by the journalist's audacity.
“But listen, at the moment there is nothing I can say. The only thing I can say is that from now on I am totally focused on Manchester City (who Liverpool will play on Sunday).
The journalist then hinted at the possibility of him joining Madrid if he left Liverpool: “Real Madrid needs centre-backs.”
“Do they? I don't know,” Van Dijk responded before being told that his central teammates Eder Militao and David Alaba are injured at Madrid.
“But (Antonio) Rudiger is there,” the Liverpool star insisted, although the journalist asked again: “Maybe you're going to Madrid?”
Van Dijk deflected again and replied: “When? In the summer? As I said before, the main focus at the moment for me is Manchester City.”
It's clear that the weekend showdown is their main focus at the moment, as Liverpool look to open their gap at the top of the Premier League and heap more misery on their usual title rivals.
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Van Dijk will play an important role in the match and will know that a victory for the Reds could extend their lead at the top to 11 points, over a Manchester City side who are winless in six games, having lost five of them. .
However, with the Netherlands international available to speak to foreign clubs over a pre-contract agreement in January, doubts over his future are likely to remain.
The 33-year-old has been a key part of Liverpool's success since arriving from Southampton in 2018.
Van Dijk has totaled 287 appearances in all competitions, winning trophies such as the Premier League and the Champions League.
He played the full 90 minutes of the dominant win over Madrid on Wednesday night to maintain his 100 per cent record in Europe's elite competition, where he also tops the table.
Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo were the scorers for Arne Slot's team in a match in which Salah and Kylian Mbappé misses penalties.
