Virgil van Dijk unsure if he will be part of Liverpool’s future without Jurgen Klopp

The Liverpool captain is out of contract in 2025 and admits the club face an uncertain future with Klopp stepping down this summer

Virgil van Dijk admitted Liverpool face an uncertain future without Jurgen Klopp and said he does not know if he will be a part of it.

The Liverpool captain is out of contract in 2025 – as are top scorer Mohamed Salah and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold - and he feels the club have a huge task to replace Klopp, who announced he will step down in the summer.

Assistant managers Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz and elite development coach Vitor Matos will also leave with Klopp while sporting director Jorg Schmadtke has already gone, adding to the rebuilding job, and with Van Dijk keen to see which decisions Liverpool will take.

Asked if he will be part of the next era at Anfield, Van Dijk replied: “That’s a big question. Well, I don’t know.”

The centre-back has 18 months left on his current deal. “That is correct; good maths,” he said. “Listen, I don’t know. 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 now.”

Van Dijk was a club record signing when Klopp bought him from Southampton in 2018 and the German made him captain when Jordan Henderson left last summer.

Van Dijk became Liverpool’s record signing and then club captain under Klopp (Getty Images)

Now further change is coming and he added: “Obviously it will be the end of Jurgen Klopp’s era. I am very glad that I am still part of it. That is why I don’t like to speak about it. I am still part of it. That is my main focus now and we will see at the end of the season.

“Hopefully we have the success that we all dream of and fight for each and every day. By then there will probably be more clarification about what the club wants for the future and then we will see.”

Van Dijk urged Liverpool not to lose their focus but accepted players will have various emotions about the news.

“Obviously things will change at the end of the season and in the new season but at the moment it doesn’t,” he added.

“We are all human beings and we have emotions. Some players feel different about the manager’s announcement than others: that’s absolutely normal because everyone thinks in different ways but I didn’t notice the professionalism being dropped or the level of standard.”