Virgil van Dijk injury ‘complaints’ confirmed as Liverpool captain misses full training

Ronald Koeman, the manager of Holland, has explained the precise reason Virgil van Dijk returned to Liverpool on Monday.

Liverpool and Holland captain Virgil van Dijk(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Virgil van Dijk returned to Liverpool this week due to fitness concerns, which Holland manager Ronald Koeman has clarified. Despite playing in Saturday’s 4-0 UEFA Nations League thumping of Hungary in Amsterdam, Van Dijk left the Dutch team on Monday.

The final match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday night is a dead rubber, as Holland has already won second place in the group behind champions Germany.

However, Koeman has acknowledged that Van Dijk has been dealing with a number of minor fitness concerns, and Liverpool is evaluating the player before Sunday’s Premier League trip to Southampton, his old club.

“Virgil had some minor complaints, he already had that last week,” the head coach of Holland stated. “He worked out on his own until Wednesday of last week.

“He always plays everything, especially given the schedule that these guys must follow. We chose to send him back to the club for that reason.

Holland captain Van Dijk has returned to Liverpool early for the second straight international break after missing the team’s loss in Germany last month after being sent off in Hungary a few days earlier.

Even though former Manchester United forward Wout Weghorst had previously scored a penalty in the match, Van Dijk’s Anfield teammate Cody Gakpo scored from the penalty spot during the victory over Hungary over the weekend.

Furthermore, Koeman has made it clear that he does not want the incident to happen again. He remarked, “I thought it was clear,” “Wout was number one, so in my opinion, he ought to accept the second penalty if the first one is taken.

“We talked about that and that won’t happen again.”