While Ronald Araujo was undergoing his medical, Liverpool only actually had one fit senior centre-back on their books. And he, typically, was the oldest of the lot. Virgil van Dijk may have made an inauspicious start to his pre-season, conceding a penalty in Sunday’s 3-2 defeat to Monaco, but Liverpool’s 35-year-old marathon man pronounced himself ready to go again this year.
Van Dijk is conscious of his age, which feels more notable when two of Liverpool’s other three main central defenders are 19 and 21 respectively, in Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet. The Dutchman had did not gravitate to Anfield until he was 26, but hopes that starting late will extend his career.
It has already brought 731 games for clubs and country, but the most remarkable numbers came last season. No footballer in Europe’s top five leagues played more minutes than Van Dijk: some 6,121, including 4,941 for Liverpool. He did not miss a minute in their Premier League campaign, nor in the Netherlands’ World Cup.
With Leoni and Jacquet yet to feature in pre-season, with Joe Gomez injured, Liverpool could rely again on Van Dijk, even with Araujo set to join on loan from Barcelona. He is prepared for another heavy workload. “Are you going to say I’m 35 years old and I can’t do it?” he asked. “At the end of the day, you have to look after yourself. You have to be, I wouldn’t say lucky, but you have to do everything in your power.
“That is the bare minimum for me because I feel the responsibility to be ready for each and every game. We play every three days. Between games, at home, at the training ground, you have to do everything in your power to be ready to play again. For me, I feel good. I am also a late bloomer so you know, maybe… it is what it is. I feel fine.”
Which may be a relief. When, for once, Van Dijk requested time off, it was to sit out friendlies on the other side of the Atlantic. Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak also exited the World Cup in the last 32 and returned to the United States for the end of the pre-season tour.
Van Dijk did not. “I definitely asked for a good break because I felt like I needed it, not only physically but mentally as well. It was a very demanding year from before pre-season started last year until the day I got knocked out of the World Cup,” he said. “I had maybe three days more than Ryan, Flo and Alex. I didn’t want to go to America because I didn’t want to get jet lag.” Instead, he had a couple of extra days at Liverpool’s training ground.
As it is, a return to duty has been busy. He has met Jacquet, a prospective centre-back partner now Ibrahima Konate is gone. “I’ve spoken to him,” he said of the Frenchman. “I’ve seen him walking around and we have conversations. I can’t wait to see him back on the pitch and I hope that happens very, very soon.”
His first outing of the campaign came alongside the teenager Ifeanyi Ndukwe. “Big talent, big guy,” he said of the 18-year-old Austrian who, unfortunately for Liverpool, does not yet qualify for a work permit. “The matter of fact is that he has to go on loan,” Van Dijk added. “Let’s see where he ends up.”
That increases the need to seal the loan move for Araujo. “Any player that will arrive to the club, we will be welcoming,” said the Dutchman. Liverpool’s squad looks slender at the moment. There may have been too few newcomers in the dressing room but there is one in the dugout, in Andoni Iraola. Van Dijk takes his responsibilities as captain seriously and extended the same offer to the Spaniard that he did to his predecessor.
“We had a great conversation in the first week when it got announced and the main thing for him to know is that I am here for him regardless: anything he needs, wants to know, wants me to do for the team, I am here for him,” he said. “I liked working under Arne [Slot] and I am sure I will like working under the new manager.”
With Konate, Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah going, Liverpool could have a younger team, making Van Dijk more of an anomaly. “It definitely feels like a bit of a transition, for sure,” he said. “It is down to everyone associated with Liverpool to make sure we are building something that will be successful for years to come.”
In the last season of his contract, nearer his 40th birthday than his 30th, Van Dijk may not be there for years to come, but the late bloomer is determined to remain in flower deep into the autumn of his career.
