Liverpool have been the best team in Europe in terms of form so far this season. Arne Slot has done an excellent job with the squad that he inherited from Jurgen Klopp, and has probably already taken them to the next level.
The Reds excellent form, coupled with the struggles that usual suspects like Manchester City and Arsenal are facing has left Liverpool leading the pack in the Premier League with their only genuine contenders at this point seeming to be a buoyant Chelsea under Enzo Maresca.
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What Maresca has at his disposal is an excellent squad to work with, with all bases covered. His backups are as good as his starters in most positions and in terms of overall squad building, one would have to say that the Blues are even ahead of the Reds at this point.
For Liverpool, the priority even before squad building is securing the futures of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, all three of whom see their contracts expire at the end of the current campaign.
As reported earlier by The Athletic, Liverpool made a contract offer to Virgil van Dijk that did not meet expectations. Now, Paul Robinson on Football Insider has offered further insight, claiming that a deal is near. Here is what the ex-footballer had to say:
“I’m very confident Virgil van Dijk will sign. I think the contract is nearly there, and I think he’ll be the one that does sign.”
Van Dijk currently earns around £11.4m a year at Anfield. At 33, he is unlikely to get a huge wage bump in his new contract but the Dutchman has so far shown no signs of slowing down. In fact, the defender seems to be ageing like fine wine.
Should Liverpool tie Van Dijk down to a new deal at the club, it would be a huge coup. He surely has what it takes to play at the highest level for at least a couple more seasons if not more.
He could become the Thiago Silva of the modern generation. Let’s wait and see how it plays out going forward.
