Jurgen Klopp calls for 'calm' after Virgil van Dijk's Liverpool future admission as he slams media 'distraction' tactics since his bombshell exit announcement

Klopp announced he would be stepping down from his managerial role in the summer, which led defender Van Dijk to say he was unsure if would be part of this upcoming "new era". However, the former Borussia Dortmund boss, who took a swipe at the media for how they covered this news, insists fans should be relaxed about the futures of Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold - all of whom have 18 months left on their current contracts.

The German told reporters: "When I said what I had to say (about leaving), it was clear the outside world wouldn’t give you a second to process it and think about it. Give the boys a break. Nobody has to worry. You can’t wait with these type of questions. Virg [Van Dijk] didn’t go out and say ‘by the way I want to say…..’. It’s always about the questions.

“This club is stable, 100 per cent. Everything will be fine. I recommend that people stay calm. Very often the fans’ concerns aren’t as big as the media might think. You underestimate the IQ of our supporters. We’re in this season and these talks could be part of a possible distraction. That’s the same whether you know the manager for next season or not.

“The club have known about my departure for a while. Tying the players down and then me saying ‘I won’t he here anymore’, they’d be like ‘no-one told us that’, you can’t work like this, especially with the relationship we have. There’s enough time to do everything. These players love to be here. I know that for a fact. It’s not that they have one foot out.”

Klopp will be an incredibly hard act to follow at Liverpool after winning six major trophies, including the Premier League and Champions League since taking over in 2015. Naturally, speculation over the future of the Reds' key players is likely to follow but the 56-year-old is clearly trying to suggest there is life after the German at Anfield.

Liverpool still have plenty to play for this season, with the Reds in the final of the Carabao Cup, the fifth round of the FA Cup, the last 16 of the Europa League and they sit top of the Premier League. First up, they host Chelsea on Wednesday night in the English top-flight.