Why Slot was never going to let The Reds' colossus go

Virgil van Dijk says it was always Liverpool’ as he pens deal

- RICHARD JOLLY SENIOR FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT

The way Virgil van Dijk put it on Sunday, a saga had the feel of a formality. “Everything that embodies Liverpool that is just part of me,” he said. A man with a claim to be Liverpool’s finest ever centre-back, who is set to join their band of title-winning captains, has become part of the fabric of the club to the extent that it has seemed surreal that, until a new contract was belatedly signed, they risked losing a £75m signing on a free transfer.

In theory, Van Dijk’s last act at Anfield could have been to lift the Premier League trophy before exiting, seemingly unwanted. In practice, it wasn’t going to happen. Only those with little understanding of the situation thought the defender would leave. Van Dijk didn’t. As he put it, it was “always Liverpool, it was always in my head, it was always the plan”.

If the inexplicable element is why contract talks took so long when both parties wanted him to stay, this has been the least dramatic of stories, in part because Van Dijk has brought his nonchalance from the pitch to every interview in which he has been asked about his future. Cautious as Arne Slot invariably is in his rhetoric, he left little doubt he wanted to keep his compatriot. Despite a couple of recent mistakes, Van Dijk’s performances have been suitably commanding to rebut any notions of decline.