While Virgil van Dijk has put pen to paper on a new two-year contract at Liverpool, there are indications the captain is already planning to stay longer.
Fenway Sports Group have moved the goalposts when it comes to their restriction on handing new contracts to players in their 30s with long-term extensions for Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
The reasons are obvious, with the pair arguably Liverpool’s two best players and undoubtedly the best in the world in their respective positions.
That has justified their salaries – with Van Dijk reported to be earning around £385,000 per week and Salah on £480,000 a week – as FSG aim for long-term success under Arne Slot.
But while his new contract is set to expire in two years’ time, by which point he will be 36, Van Dijk has designs on an even longer stay.
According to the Times‘ Paul Joyce, the Dutchman “does not intend for his association to end in the summer of 2027,” with the Mail‘s Lewis Steele adding that the centre-back believes he can maintain his form “for a further three or four years.”
His performances this season, before which he turned 33, go some length to reinforcing why Van Dijk is confident he is not yet on the decline.
Joyce explains that he is a “big believer in sports science” and “has his own private team to help with nutrition, body recovery and gym work.”
That includes recovery in his swimming pool at home, with aqua cycling sessions, along with regular saunas and ice baths.
Steele continues: “A regimented recovery process, one which often sees him report on days off for extra treatment and also involves the use of ice baths and a cryotherapy chamber, means he feels that he can carry on playing at an elite level for many years.”
Van Dijk “wants to emulate” LeBron
Thiago Silva, who was still starting regularly for Chelsea last season at 39, is held up as an example for Van Dijk, who “wants to emulate” the likes of LeBron James, still playing at 40, Roger Federer, who retired at 41, and Tom Brady, who retired at 44.
This follows a similar claim regarding Salah from BBC Sport‘s Sami Mokbel, who reported last week that “those close to the frontman believe he has at least another three years at the highest level.”
• READ: Mo Salah rejected ‘£500m offer’ to leave Liverpool amid next contract hint
It remains to be seen whether further extensions will be considered by the decision-makers at FSG, and much will depend on the form of Van Dijk and Salah over the next two years.
But neither player appears to have ruled out these being the last contracts they sign with Liverpool.
