Jurgen Klopp responds to Virgil van Dijk interview opening the door to Liverpool exit

The centre-back only has 18 months left on his contract (Picture: Getty)



Jurgen Klopp has played down Virgil van Dijk’s recent interview regarding his Liverpool future and insists it is a non-story concocted by the media.



The German coach announced on Friday that he would be stepping down as manager at the end of the season and, just a few days later, his captain – who is out of contract in 2025 – raised doubts over his own long-term future at the club.



Asked if he could envisage being part of the post-Klopp era at Liverpool, Van Dijk replied: ‘That’s a big question. Well, I don’t know.’



He continued: ‘The club will have a big job on their hands. That is well known. To replace the manager and replace not only the manager, the staff is leaving, and there are so many things that will change.



‘So the club has a big job on its hands and I am very curious which direction that will go in. But when that will be announced we will see our situation. I can’t say much about it.’



While Van Dijk’s comments had many fearing that Klopp might not be the only high-profile departure on the way, the Liverpool boss himself is adamant there is nothing to worry about and hit out at the line of questioning.



Asked about Van Dijk’s interview, and whether there was a danger Liverpool’s top players might follow him out the exit door, Klopp replied: ‘No. No, I don’t think so. And it’s completely normal.



‘I said what I had to say and then it was always clear that the outside world will not give you a second to process it, to think about it. The next thing is just, “What are you doing?!”

Klopp has allayed fears Van Dijk will follow him out the door (Picture: Getty)



‘So a week ago or whenever, when no-one knew about my decision, he had 18 months on his contract and nobody asked!



‘So give us a break, give the boys [a break]. And if I’m here we need to create a perspective and all these kinds of things, what’s happening next and stuff like this, that’s completely normal, nobody has to worry.



‘That’s why I say this team, the majority of everything is exactly like this, but if you want to find somebody who is not safe now, who has a contract only until 2025, you will find it.



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‘So I knew that it would happen, because you can’t wait with these kinds of questions. Virgil didn’t go out and say, “By the way, I want to say…” so it’s always about the questions and we always need to answer these kind of things.



‘Write what you want. This club is stable, 100 per cent. Everything will be fine, I’m 100 per cent sure.



‘And the rest, we have to get through this, we have to get through your questions, we have to give some answers, and that’s how it is. I would recommend [to our fans] to stay calm in this department, massively.’



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https://metro.co.uk/2024/01/30/jurgen-klopp-responds-virgil-van-dijk-hinting-liverpool-exit-20195677/