Liverpool boss Arne Slot has praised Virgil van Dijk as the Reds captain faces a crucial question over his future at Anfield.
The Reds start 2025 at the top of the Premier League after their 3-1 home win over Leicester City on Boxing Day put them seven points clear at the top.
Van Dijk has played a central role in Slot's strong start on Merseyside. He started all seventeen Premier League games this season, scoring just seventeen goals for his side.
Only Arsenal (16) have conceded fewer goals than Liverpool in the top flight, and Van Dijk has the most clean sheets of any Premier League player since the start of the season, with seven.
The 33-year-old has been involved in contract extension talks with the club in recent weeks, along with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the trio all seeing their existing contracts expire at the end of the season.
Under current rules, all three can start free transfer negotiations with non-Premier League teams from early 2025, but a transfer cannot be completed until the summer.
Van Dijk has indicated he wants to stay at the club, having made almost 300 appearances since arriving from Southampton in 2018, but Slot suggested no major progress has been made as 2024 draws to a close.
“He has been a great player, a great player for Liverpool for so many years,” Slot told BBC Sport.
“I can only tell you my experiences with him, and he is not only what you see – because you see him during the game, and he is excellent – but he also has such a big impact in training.
“He is the vocal leader of this team. Every time we start a drill, he sits on top of his teammates and leads by example.
“For me, he has been excellent and we can only hope that he continues to show this in games and training for as long as he is with us.”
Virgil van Dijk on IG… pic.twitter.com/xsBFXHGn8r
— The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) December 27, 2024
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