McAllister ´can´t visualise Liverpool without Van Dijk´ amid exit rumours

Liverpool legend Gary McAllister cannot visualise the Reds without captain Virgil van Dijk, with the defender having entered the final year of his contract at Anfield.

Van Dijk has played a talismanic role since joining Liverpool from Southampton in January 2018, making 197 Premier League appearances for the club.

Since his debut, only Mohamed Salah (229), Trent Alexander-Arnold (211), Andy Robertson (209) and Alisson (201) have played more league matches for the Reds.

The Dutchman has won the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup trophies with the Reds, taking the captain’s armband when Jordan Henderson departed last year.

However, he has entered the final 12 months of the four-year contract he signed in 2021, and when Jurgen Klopp announced his departure earlier this year, the centre-back admitted he “didn’t know” whether he would continue with the club.

McAllister, however, expects him to stay put, telling Stats Perform: “He’s such a pivotal player and he’s a fantastic leader, he’s the captain of the club.

“I can’t visualise Liverpool without Virgil van Dijk. So my feeling and the feeling of most of the people in and around the club is that we need him to stay.”

Van Dijk is not the only Liverpool stalwart with an uncertain future, with Salah also out of contract at the end of the season and attracting interest from the Saudi Pro League.

Salah scored 18 Premier League goals in 2023-24, making it the least prolific season of his seven-year stay on Merseyside, but McAllister says he has nothing to prove.

“Mo has been simply sensational right from the day he arrived,” McAllister said.

“His goal stats, his assist stats, every stat that you can throw in, all the records that he’s broken… he’s just got to do what he’s done every year that he’s been here.

“I’m sure the new manager will be leaning on him.

“He’s now a senior player, Mo, he’s a player who’s got vast experience, he’s a world icon, he’s an iconic footballer, he’s going to be such a massive player for the club this season.”

Salah will hope to get more support from fellow attacker Cody Gakpo in 2024-25, with the Dutchman earning a share of the Golden Boot at Euro 2024 with three goals, after only netting eight times in a frustrating 2023-24 campaign.

McAllister hopes Liverpool’s appointment of Gakpo’s compatriot Arne Slot will help him kick on, saying: “That’ll help, the fact the manager and Gakpo are both Dutchmen.

“It was his first full season at the club, I thought he had some good games, bad games, so his form was a little bit up and down.

“But I agree, during the Euros, Gakpo was one of the Netherlands’ best players and he got his goals as well. He’ll gain from that experience, the fact that he did well.

“The fans will feel like they’ve got a new signing, I think you’ll see a young man coming in with more confidence and feeling that he’s now a proper Liverpool player.”