Van Dijk is obviously unhappy and could quit Liverpool, they have big questions over their character, says club legend
GRAEME SOUNESS has tipped Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk to leave Liverpool after suggesting he’s “unhappy” at the club.
The Dutch centre-back, 32, will have just a year remaining on his contract this summer and has previously suggested he could leave.
The centre-back said in January that he “doesn’t know” where the future will take him when reacting to the shock news that Jurgen Klopp would be leaving Liverpool at the end of this season.
He said that he would wait until Liverpool announce their new manager, which now looks likely to be Feyenoord coach Arne Slot, before committing his future to Liverpool.
Souness, who was talking with Simon Jordan and Troy Deeney on their Three Up Front Podcast, has now said he thinks Van Dijk will follow Klopp out the exit door.
Souness said: “The fact that Virgil van Dijk’s contract end is coming up worries me, he’s 33 in July, and if his agent were to call up the sporting director at Real Madrid, they’d take him.
“I just look at him now and the noise he’s been making, which he hasn’t done throughout his career, and I think he’s obviously unhappy.
“He’ll have asked questions about the new manager already and will be the one that Arne Slot has to win over.
“Slot must get Van Dijk onside – he’s the captain – but Van Dijk might not fancy him.
“He might’ve heard something on the grapevine and may think that this guy won’t take the team where they want to be, the clock is ticking on his career, maybe he needs to go someplace else to win more silverware.
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“He has won two of the big ones with Liverpool, but he’s not a serial winner.”
He suggested Slot will now face an uphill battle after the club’s tricky end to the season, saying: “If you’d asked me about this a month ago, I would’ve said whoever takes over from Jürgen Klopp is inheriting the most fabulous situation, but I can’t say that anymore.
“With the way that they’ve performed this month, Liverpool have now got a big question mark against their character.”
Souness also questioned the future of Mohamed Salah, whose contract expires in 2025.
He said: “As a Liverpool supporter, just looking at the way Salah has been acting and his body language, his focus hasn’t been there.
“It makes you question whether there has been a deal done early on in the season, like with Cristiano Ronaldo when he went to Real Madrid. If he does leave it’ll be a major problem.”
Salah was involved in a bust-up with Klopp last time Liverpool played against West Ham.
The Egyptian was coming off the bench with ten minutes to go when he was involved in an argument with his manager.
When asked about the spat after the game, Salah said: “If I speak there will be fire.”
Salah has been consistently linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League with bids upwards of £150million reportedly being made for the winger last year.
Slot snubbed Spurs, hates defending and has a PASS named after him
By Dan King
LIVERPOOL managerial target Arne Slot was a good enough player to have a type of pass named after him.
But it is as a manager that the Feyenoord head coach is really making his mark.
Like another bald Dutchman, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, Slot earned his stripes bossing smaller sides before being given a chance at one of the Netherlands’ big three.
But the question Liverpool are pondering is whether Slot would make a better fist of running one of the biggest clubs in the world than Ten Hag so far has at Old Trafford.
Slot, 45, was certainly easier on the eye as a player than centre back Ten Hag.
“The Arne Slot Ball” was something he perfected as a silky No 10 – a back-to-goal, first-time, 180-degree spin and flick behind the defensive line for a winger to run on to deep in the opposition half.
Click here to read all about the incoming Liverpool boss.