Virgil van Dijk Contemplates Future with Liverpool and Netherlands

Long-time Netherlands skipper, Virgil van Dijk, admitted that it was the right time for a rethink about his long-term future at Liverpool and, indeed, with the Dutch national team. That defeat was a painful exit in the just-ended European Championships at the hands of the Dutch on Wednesday in what many neutrals had tipped to be a potential final.

Van Dijk, who has led the national team since 2018 and played 75 games, announced that he would spend the next weeks deliberating on the future direction of his career. The 33-year-old defender is one season away from his contract with Liverpool.

Disappointment at Euro 2024

Thursday's 2-1 loss of the Netherlands to England has meant the English team will now be away from an emotionally better van Dijk, whose future is hanging in the balance. "To be very clear, I am not talking right now about my future. I will carefully think about the coming summer at club level and as an international player. Then we will go for it again but first recover from this," Van Dijk said.

That semifinal saw a last-minute winner from England's Ollie Watkins, for whom it was a particularly galling moment to find a man from Liverpool on the opposite side.

Van Dijk said: "After a season like this, with everything that's happened, it gets a bit emotional at the end because you know it's finished. Especially in the second half, I had the feeling the outcome would fall our way. But Watkins was possibly given a little bit too much space and he finished well.

He vowed that, despite the result, the full team from Liverpool put a lot of effort and commitment into their game.

"It hurts a lot that we conceded this goal so late in the match and are now empty-handed. You put everything into it, everyone gives everything and if the goal comes like that in the last minute, that just sucks. Yes. sorry."

With the football world waiting for van Dijk's decision post-Euro 2024, his future still lingers among the key talking points.