Virgil van Dijk says ‘progress’ made in talks over new Liverpool contract

By PA Sport Staff

Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk has indicated there has been “progress” in talks over a long-awaited new deal to keep him at Anfield.

The 33-year-old Netherlands international, like team-mates Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, is out of contract this summer, but has revealed his future could be close to being resolved.

Asked after Sunday’s 3-2 Premier League defeat at Fulham if there had been any progress in the discussions, Van Dijk told reporters: “There is progress, yeah.”

Pushed on what that meant, he added: “Listen, these are internal discussions and we’ll see.

“I love the club, I love the fans and they were there for us again [at Fulham]. We wanted to reward them, but I ask them to be there again on Sunday and make the stadium an amazing venue like always for us.”

The runaway leaders face West Ham at Anfield on Sunday sitting 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal and knowing a second title in six seasons could be just weeks away.

However, the futures of influential trio Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold have become major talking points in recent weeks, with speculation that home-grown talent Alexander-Arnold could leave for Real Madrid having sparked an angry reaction from sections of the club’s support.

Van Dijk’s comments are likely to be better received, although he insists he is concentrating only on the task of winning the league.

He said: “That’s definitely the mentality in our group, that the job is not done and now we just have to recover from this physically and mentally and put our minds on West Ham at home.”