Arne Slot has hailed the impact of Virgil van Dijk on and off the pitch for Liverpool, with the captain in “constant talks” over a new contract.
Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are permitted to formally discuss moves to clubs outside of England from January 1, as they enter the final six months of their contracts.
Liverpool will be eager to avoid any of those players reaching an agreement with another side, but as it stands there has been no breakthrough in “constant talks” over extensions.
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Asked about their situation during his pre-West Ham press conference on Thursday, Slot reiterated: “If we would [have an update], then probably it’s not the moment for me to tell you now.
“But in general I don’t talk about contract situations here.
“It would be a surprise if I was the one to announce that one of them had extended, so that’s for a different moment.
“Keep asking because that’s your job, but you’re probably not going to get an answer from me.
“It’s clear that from the first of January maybe for you guys things change a lot, but they are in constant talks with the club.
“Let’s wait and see what happens. As long as they keep performing like this, the manager – or the head coach I have to say – is happy with them.”
There have been hopes that Liverpool could replicate their announcement of the signing of Van Dijk on December 27, 2017 with news of a new contract on Friday.
As it stands that has not been the case, though there could perhaps still be a surprise sighting of the Dutchman standing in front of a Christmas tree with a pen and paper in hand.
While that seems unlikely, Slot would certainly welcome his compatriot extending his stay at Anfield beyond the end of the season.
“That is difficult for me to judge, because I wasn’t here when Virgil was close to winning the Ballon d’Or for example,” he said when asked if he felt Van Dijk was as good as he’s ever been this season.
“He’s been a tremendous player, such a great player for Liverpool, for so many years.
“Unfortunately for him he was out with an injury for almost all of the season. That didn’t help this club at all, so that probably tells you how big of an impact he has here in this club.
“I can only tell you what my experiences are with him and he’s been [outstanding] – not only from what you see, because you see him during the game and he’s outstanding during the game, but he has such a big impact in training sessions as well.
“He’s the vocal leader of this team, every time we start an exercise he’s every time on top of his teammates and he leads by example.
“So for me, he’s been outstanding until now and we can only hope he can continue showing this during the games and in the training sessions as long as he’s with us.”
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