Liverpool captain virgil van dijk has resigned from jurgen klopp’s sudden departure. Reds manager klopp stunned the football world on friday by announcing his decision to step down at the end of the current season. The german’s nine-year tenure at anfield marks the end of a hugely fruitful career, transforming a struggling club into premier league and champions league winners.
Klopp has made him one of his most important players in recent years, defender van dijk, who he signed for £75 million in 2017. And the legendary liverpool centre-back has admitted that the news was “tough to swallow.” Van dijk said of klopp’s departure for the first time: “it’s a difficult decision, because he means so much to me, to the club, and to the whole premier league,” van dijk said. He made the decision for him and his family. It was always going to be a difficult one, and it was certainly the case.”
Van dijk continued to state that klopp told his players he would be leaving in private prior to the big reveal. However, the netherlands skipper maintained that the squad is firmly focused on their goals for the rest of the season. “i think we should always try to eliminate noise from the outside,” he said. This is obviously a huge deal, as is football. It was also a big day for us. We have big goals for this year, and the manager has certainly stressed that. I want to make sure the rest of the boys think like that, for us and for myself personally. I think that’s also the case. We all want to do so much, and that mindset was already present in the pre-season, and that doesn’t change. It could even give you an extra boost to do that extra, or perhaps enjoy it a little bit more together, making the last part of the season, the last bit of the manager’s life at the club, the best time he’s ever had.’
Klopp is hoping to leave with a bang as his team fights for a historic quadruple, but he was steadfast in his decision not to transfer to another english club. He even said he would never play a football team again. “i will leave the club at the end of the season,” he said. “i can understand that it’s a shock to a lot of people in this moment when you hear it for the first time, but i’m sure i’ll explain it – or at least try to explain it. I am running out of fuel, as i should say. I have no problem now, obviously, because i knew it already for a long time that i would have to announce it at some point, but i am doing fine now. I know that i will have to do the job again and again and again.“
