Liverpool captain and star defender Virgil van Dijk has gone on record to say that he will miss soon-to-depart manager Jurgen Klopp once the season finishes – with the Dutchman announcing that he will never take him for granted after he announced his decision to depart in the summer earlier this year.
Nobody in football could have predicted that Klopp would call time on his Liverpool spell after nine years at the Anfield helm, but the German boss did just that earlier in February with a captivating speech that shocks players and fans alike. With a quadruple still to play for at the time, many saw it as perfect timing with players more likely to turn up for a proper send-off for their gaffer – and despite an FA Cup quarter-final exit to bitter rivals Manchester United in the last minute of added-time, there is still a potential treble on the cards given their Carabao Cup win, league status and Europa League hopes.
Van Dijk knows that all the sweet talk about Klopp’s history can wait until the end of the campaign, but he did go as far to admit that he couldn’t thank the manager enough for what he did for his career – and ahead of Liverpool’s clash at home to Sheffield United on Thursday evening, Van Dijk admitted that he would cherish the fact that Klopp made his dreams come true
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the visit of the Blades, the Reds captain said: “The manager means a lot to me. Obviously him making sure I joined I will never take for granted. What we achieved, he also made my dreams come true. I will always cherish that. We’re definitely going to miss him but we still have a job to do.”
Elsewhere, Van Dijk was further determined to get the job done for the fans. Their only Premier League success came in 2019/20, of which the final third of the season was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and so their trophy lift – which they had all but sewn up anyway prior to lockdown – had to be celebrated in front of a supporter-less Anfield.
And that has given Van Dijk motivation to see the crowd and Klopp all celebrating in one place for one last hurrah before the German leaves the club.
He said: “We experienced it once without the fans. It makes me want to achieve it even more because I want the fans to be there with us.
“I want the city to explode when we get the trophy in our hands. That’s what we fight for. That’s what we fight for since day one when pre-season started.
“That’s why all our sacrifices will hopefully be rewarded. The other two teams are also doing it. That’s the beauty of football. We have to fight as hard as we can to play and win games and hopefully be on the good side in the end.”
With the Premier League title in their hands after Arsenal and Manchester City’s draw at the weekend, the Reds are only a few games from title glory – and it would be a fitting end to Klopp’s reign if they were to secure that elusive trophy lift in person in his final hurrah.
