A lot has changed for Arne Slot in the last few months after replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
The Dutchman has gone from managing good players such as Santiago Gimenez and Lutsharel Geertruida at Feyenoord, to coaching some of the best on the planet in Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker.
There are many more world class footballers at Liverpool – including Virgil van Dijk – and an interesting anecdote has now been told about the Netherlands international…
Anco Jansen shares what Arne Slot said about Virgil van Dijk
Anco Jansen – an analyst for ESPN and also a close friend of the Liverpool boss – has now told Voetbalpraat what Slot said about Van Dijk during a game of paddle recently.
The 35-year-old said: “I spoke to Slot extensively last week, because we had paddled and he had a few days off. Then he said about Van Dijk, that he really is an incredibly good footballer. He thought he was really good at positional games during training. He is now seeing him up close and said, this boy is not normal when it comes to football.”
Some accused the 33-year-old of being on the decline last season, comments he responded to when celebrating Liverpool’s 1-0 Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea when saying “they thought I was finished” after scoring the winner.
Interestingly, even Van Dijk himself said he was far from his best in the 2022/23 campaign, although the Dutchman has looked back to his imperious self so far this season.
Liverpool No.4 wants to stay
The big talking point at Anfield right now is in regards to the futures of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, who all see their contracts expire at the end of the season.
It remains to be seen what happens with the other two, but Van Dijk recently said he would love to stay at Liverpool beyond the summer of 2025.
Therefore, it is now over to Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes to sort out a new deal for the man from Breda, who is arguably more deserving of an improved contract than anyone else at Anfield.