Virgil van Dijk has revealed he’s ‘extremely frustrated’ after an ‘unacceptable’ season and ‘wants to leave’ the club amid interest from Galatasaray.
After cruising to the Premier League title last term, the Reds have slumped dramatically in Arne Slot’s second season. They sit 18 points behind league-leaders Arsenal with three games to play and will end the season without a trophy.
Van Dijk himself has been way short of his best this season and revealed his frustration over an ‘unacceptable’ season in his programme notes ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Chelsea at Anfield.
He said: ‘In many ways that has been the story of our season; we just haven’t been able to build any kind of momentum. We have had some good spells in games, some good wins even, but we haven’t been able to follow those up and really create some consistency.
‘That is extremely frustrating for everyone associated with the club because, as we all know, consistency is the hallmark of successful teams. We keep going, though. We keep working and we stick together.
‘We know we still have a job to do to secure Champions League qualification for next season, and we want to do that as soon as possible. We have three games left to play, and we want to win them all, starting on Saturday.
‘Chelsea, like ourselves, have found it difficult at times this season, but we know that they possess a lot of talent in their squad. They will be motivated after a disappointing result of their own last weekend, and we know we will need to be at our best if we want to get the three points.
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Like I say, that is our target, nothing more. This has been a very disappointing season – an unacceptable one, in my opinion – but we cannot feel sorry for ourselves. That is not what Liverpool is about.
‘We are all frustrated of course, but we want to try to finish on a positive note, secure that Champions League spot and give you guys at least something to take away from a tough campaign.’
Fellow veterans Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson are leaving the club this summer, and now a shock report from Turkish outlet Fotomac claims Van Dijk also ‘wants to leave at the end of the season’.
Galatasaray are ready to take advantage, and it’s claimed the Turkish giants ‘will accelerate contacts’ at the end of the season, with Van Dijk ‘looking forward to coming’ as he considers ‘terminating his contract’.
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