Liverpool sleepwalking towards unbelievable Virgil van Dijk disaster

Liverpool are heading towards an absolute disaster with Virgil van Dijk. They've got to sort it ASAP.

Liverpool are going to face a massive Virgil van Dijk problem very, very soon. It may even come this summer as few can be 100 per cent sure about what he’s going to do once the season is over.

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Van Dijk will have one remaining year on his contract and there’s certainly interest in him from elsewhere. He might fancy leaving a year early and while he’s still an elite player - something Mohamed Salah has decided to do.

But if the captain doesn’t leave this summer, he’s almost certainly saying goodbye in a year’s time. He’s simply going to decline, given Van Dijk turns 35 in June.

And this situation is a terrible one for Liverpool. The Reds are unbelievably dependent on a 34-year-old footballer and in a way that they really, really shouldn’t be.

Van Dijk has played more minutes than any outfield player at Liverpool this season but that doesn’t even explain the half of it. The Dutchman has more outfield minutes than any player in Europe’s top five leagues.

The Reds essentially need him to play every game, with no obvious alternative in the squad. They legitimately can’t afford to rest Van Dijk, such is the drop-off.

But they’ve also done next to nothing to sort this situation. The only other two senior options in the squad are expected to leave this summer, with Ibrahima Konate’s contract expiring and Joe Gomez entering his final year.

Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni are enormous talents but very, very young. They’re certainly not experienced enough to step into Van Dijk’s shoes anytime soon.

And Liverpool haven’t made any strides at replacing Van Dijk with a senior player. Someone in and around their prime and who could be a proper leader for the defence.

They essentially need to find that player this summer. Otherwise, the best-case scenario is such a star arriving in 2027 and needing to replace Van Dijk without any preparation. We’re not even sure that’s possible.

There was talk about signing someone like Nico Schlotterbeck, who we felt would be Liverpool’s biggest-possible signing as a Van Dijk replacement. That’s now cooled off and it seems the Reds won’t sign a senior centre-back this summer.

With Konate possibly leaving, and Van Dijk maybe following shortly, this could turn into an absolute disaster for Liverpool.