‘He’s my vice-captain’ - Virgil van Dijk sends Andy Robertson transfer message to Liverpool amid shock interest from Tottenham in Scotland international left-back

Robertson is, at 31 years of age, mulling over his options after slipping down the pecking order a little on Merseyside. He saw big money spent on Milos Kerkez in the summer of 2025.

The Hungarian is yet to produce his best for the Reds, having previously starred in the English top-flight for Bournemouth, but is considered to be a long-term addition for Arne Slot. Robertson is understandably eager to play regular football at this stage of his career.

He has been with Liverpool since 2017, taking in 364 appearances for the club. He became a modern day legend under Jurgen Klopp and would depart with everyone’s best wishes if a sale were to be sanctioned.

Van Dijk is hoping that will not be the case, with Liverpool’s skipper telling reporters: “Of course I speak to him. I speak to him every day, he's my vice-captain. Robbo is a very important member of our team and I want him to stay but whatever happens, let's see.

“Do I expect him to be here on Wednesday [for the Qarabag game]? That's not on me, is it? Let's speak about [my best memories of him] when [a move] happens.”

Slot has admitted that Robertson still has a role to play in his plans if interest from north London can be snubbed. He said on the back of a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth that saw Kerkez hauled off at half-time against his former club: “I think I need all my players. Robbo had to come in at half-time, in my opinion. I always knew that for Milos, another 90 minutes against a very intense Bournemouth side was not a possibility for him, so I knew I would have to bring (Robertson) in.

“I had already had one substitution in the first half, then you only have two moments left, so I thought 'let's bring Robbo in at half-time to make sure Milos stays available for the rest of the season'. There's a lot of games to be played with the players available. I have to manage that as well. The last thing we could need right now is another injury.”

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Liverpool saw their 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions snapped against the Cherries, with a 95th-minute winner proving to be their undoing after battling back from two goals down to level matters on the south coast.

Van Dijk said of a hectic schedule taking its toll: “What can explain tiredness? What do you think? Last season we did not have many injuries. Look at the last line in the last minutes of the game, that says quite a lot.

“Tiredness, yeah. Listen, they created chances because we were very open at times. If you then don't make the right decision in possession, you can get counter-attacked. I don't start to worry personally [about the top-four race] But the matter of fact is about what we do in the week. We are trying to find consistency and we still don't have it, that is something we need to focus on.

“We played Bournemouth who are very intense. When we only have myself and Wata (Wataru Endo) as the last two, if we lose the ball then there is a lot of space. We are having a difficult season in terms of ups and downs but now we have an opportunity on Wednesday to qualify for the top eight of the Champions League. That is our target but today is tough to take. It was tough. I'm disappointed. The first goal, I take full responsibility for that even though it was a very difficult ball to judge. In the second half, we tried to do that.

“The second goal, we can all speak and say we should have kicked the ball out, we should have done this. But to concede like that puts ourselves in a position where we have to work even harder than ever.”

Liverpool, who are not yet guaranteed a place in the Champions League last 16, will be back in European action on Wednesday. In an ongoing hunt for a top-four finish in the Premier League, with the Reds no longer part of that pack, their next two domestic fixtures will be testing ones against Newcastle and Manchester City.