Virgil van Dijk is refusing to speak openly about his future with the Netherlands. That was clear once again during Virgil’s Legacy Trophy, the youth tournament in Tilburg that the Netherlands international organises every year.
"I thought we weren’t going to ask questions about the Netherlands. But I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough," Van Dijk said plainly on Sunday in an interview with ESPN.
Last week, Van Dijk spoke with head coach Xavi, who was at Liverpool’s match against Atlético Madrid at the start of the new Champions League season. Next Friday, it will become clear whether the captain is included in the final squad for the Nations League matches, including those against Germany and Greece.
After EURO 2024, Van Dijk had doubts about his future with the Netherlands. Ronald Koeman convinced him to continue, which meant the defender was also involved at the last World Cup, which ended for the Netherlands in the round of 16.
The Liverpool captain also briefly spoke to the Brabants Dagblad about the youth tournament that bears his name. "We played with Liverpool yesterday afternoon (Saturday, ed.), I have to train again at the end of the afternoon and now I’m here. That says enough about how important this is to me, doesn’t it?"
Above all, Van Dijk hopes he can pass something on to the young players during the tournament. "The life of a 12 or 13-year-old is very turbulent, but at the same time you also see players of 16 already making their professional debut. So who knows, maybe this weekend we’ll also see boys here who in three years’ time will win the Champions League, maybe even score the winner in the final. That would be nice."
Also in Tilburg was Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. Frenkie de Jong, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry also sent video messages for the young talents.