Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has leapt to the defence of club captain Virgil van Dijk for admitting he wasn’t sure about his standing at Anfield under a new manager.
Klopp announced last week he will stand down from his post at the end of the 2023/24 season, and speculation over the future of the Reds’ star players quickly followed.
After scoring in Sunday’s 5-2 win at home to Norwich City in round four of the FA Cup, Van Dijk told reporters he wasn’t sure if there would be a place for him at Liverpool in the post-Klopp era.
However, Klopp claimed this was a natural response from Van Dijk to a question he would not have thought about the answer to.
“I was always clear with what I had to say, but the outside world would not give you a second to process it, to think about it,” Klopp said at a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s just, ‘what is the next thing?’. So a week ago, nobody knew about my decision, but he [Van Dijk] still had 18 months on his contract and nobody asked. Give him a break.”
In addition to Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are also into the final 18 months of their contracts – 90min revealed on Tuesday Liverpool’s plans for keeping the trio.
Klopp also moved to assure fans there would not be a mass exodus among the playing staff in wake of his exit, adding: “All people, I would recommend to stay calm in this department, massively.
“There is enough time to do everything. These players love to be here, don’t forget that. It is not that they have one foot out. They want to know a little bit of perspective but that is there and will happen, especially behind the scenes.
“There is no need to have an impact, it is completely normal. The decision the club knew about my departure for a while and the club could have used the time and tied the players down and then I say, ‘by the way, I’m not here any more’.
“They would say ‘hey, what? No-one told us that’. You cannot work like that, especially not with the relationship we have.
“Don’t worry. It is all fine. The boys love this place: I know that for a fact.”
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