Van Dijk’s plans when new contract expires revealed after Liverpool break ‘rule’

The finer details behind Virgil van Dijk’s new Liverpool contract have emerged, along with what the defender wants when his deal expires in 2027.

Liverpool officially confirmed on Thursday morning that captain Van Dijk had signed a two-year extension. The Dutchman is already a Reds legend, though like Mohamed Salah who penned his own two-year deal last week, his story at Anfield has more pages to write.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein and Paul Joyce of The Times have both shed light on what went into getting a deal for Van Dijk over the line.

Firstly, Van Dijk did have offers to sign elsewhere, though the centre-back only ever wanted to re-sign with Liverpool.

He has not taken a pay-cut to do so, meaning he remains the highest paid defender in European football on roughly £400,000-a-week.

The vast bulk of that money is guaranteed, with the only incentivised aspects of his deal relating to team honours and not individual performance.

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Liverpool have an unofficial in-house policy of not giving stars aged 30-plus new contracts. The Athletic referenced the club’s ‘rules’ in their report, though noted Liverpool believed both Salah and Van Dijk were special cases.

The club have seen little-to-no statistical drop-off in either player and given their monumental impact both in terms of on-field displays and leadership, saw fit to make exceptions.

Interestingly, The Times also dropped a huge hint regarding Van Dijk’s plans beyond the length of his new deal.

Van Dijk will be about to turn 36 at the time of his contract expiring in the summer of 2027, though he seemingly has no intention of retiring at that point.

What’s more, Van Dijk already has his sights set on earning another extension at Anfield rather than embarking on a new chapter elsewhere.

Joyce wrote: ‘He will now remain at Liverpool until close to his 36th birthday, though does not intend for his association to end in the summer of 2027.’

Why new Liverpool contracts were delayed

Explaining why Van Dijk and Salah’s new deals took so long for Liverpool to get over the line, the club’s upheaval behind the scenes was cited.

The departures of Jurgen Klopp and former sporting director Jorg Schmadtke in 2024 coincided with the hiring of Richard Hughes and return of Michael Edwards.

Liverpool took their time to let the dust settle behind the scenes and a delay in ramping up extensions for Van Dijk and Salah was a direct consequence.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, is still expected to join Real Madrid via free agency.

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