Liverpool’s captain, Virgil van Dijk, has acknowledged the concerns surrounding the club’s limited transfer activity ahead of the upcoming season. He encouraged his teammates to rise to the occasion, especially in the wake of the significant departures of key players.
At 32 years old, Van Dijk took over the captaincy from Jordan Henderson, who concluded his 12-year tenure at Liverpool by moving to Saudi Arabia’s Pro League team Al Ettifaq last month.
Liverpool’s roster has seen the departure of six experienced players, including Henderson and Fabinho, who relocated to Saudi Arabian clubs. Furthermore, midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, Naby Keita, and forward Roberto Firmino have all departed on free transfers.
With just three days remaining until the commencement of the new season, Liverpool’s incoming player count hasn’t kept pace with the number of departures. Notably, only midfielders Alexis MacAllister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been added to the squad during the transfer window.
“I can definitely understand it in some ways, but I’m not a very negative person,” Van Dijk said when asked about Liverpool fans’ worries.
“Obviously, when a lot of players are leaving, when your captain is leaving, your vice-captain is leaving, and at the moment, there are only two incomings.
“And the way we have been playing, in possession it’s really good, but defensively when you concede goals it’s not as good, so I can understand some people having doubts.”
After narrowly missing out on an unprecedented quadruple in the 2021–22 season—Liverpool ended with two domestic cups—the club will not feature in the Champions League for the first time since manager Jurgen Klopp’s first full season in 2016–17.
“Let’s see if more players are coming in, and then we have to be ready again for a long season. It will be very tough if we look at the teams around us, but we want to be up there again; we want to be challenging again,” Van Dijk said.
“We have to be confident; we should be confident, and we should still be learning each and every day.
“There have been characters leaving, players who have played a big part in the success, but others have to step up. That’s a nice challenge, in my opinion. We should be excited.”
Liverpool will begin their season with an away fixture against Chelsea on Sunday.