Breaking News: Liverpool have simple decision to make after £58m Man Utd transfer call

Liverpool may be reluctant to give 33-year-old Virgil van Dijk a large salary, but failing to offer the club captain a better deal might be an expensive gamble.

Given that the tall Dutchman is still among the best center backs in the world, it should come as no surprise that Virgil van Dijk has been nominated for Fans’ Footballer of the Year.

Along with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah, Van Dijk is one of three important Liverpool players whose contracts expire in the summer, and it is still unclear if the Dutchman will be at Anfield for the upcoming campaign.

It seems sense that Liverpool’s management would be hesitant to keep spending a lot of money on a player who may not have much time left at the top level at age 33.

Van Dijk’s performances, however, have not declined in any way. After his high-profile knee injury in 2020, he initially struggled to regain his dominant best, but in the previous 18 months, he has arguably improved.

Even if Anfield’s decision-makers might be reluctant to spend a lot of money on a player who is beyond 30, it seems like the best course of action given the prices that any kind of Van Dijk replacement would fetch.

Given the impact he had after joining Liverpool in 2018 for £75 million—roughly the same amount a replacement for Van Dijk would cost in 2024—he is perhaps the most recent example of a center-back with generational quality.

Even if players like Antonio Rudiger, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Ruben Dias have performed similarly to Van Dijk in recent years, it doesn’t seem likely that Liverpool will sign any of them.

Gleison Bremer, Goncalo Inacio, Loic Bade, and Marc Guehi are the four possible Van Dijk replacements that the Reds have been connected to; their asking prices ranging from £45 million for Bade to £75 million for Guehi.

Although none of these players are performing at Van Dijk’s level right now, they all possess the skills necessary to succeed at Anfield.

In fact, rivals Manchester United may have paid up to £58.9 million for adolescent Leny Yoro because of the current generation of players’ dearth of genuinely exceptional center-back potential.

A young player’s development is seldom linear, so even though the 19-year-old appears to have a bright future in the game, that’s a significant price to pay for promise.

Leny Yoro commanded a big fee due to his high potential

Therefore, while Van Dijk is still playing at his best, it would seem wiser for Liverpool to extend his contract.

Out of the three Liverpool players whose futures are in question, one could argue that Van Dijk is the most crucial deal to renew.

Although Salah, a fellow Fans’ Footballer of the Year nominee, has been in incredible form this season and is invaluable as a player, Liverpool’s attack will always be dangerous whether or not the Egyptian is playing.

Conversely, Conor Bradley has already proven he is a more than suitable right-back alternative in the event if Alexander-Arnold is enticed to join Real Madrid at the end of the current campaign.

In the end, Liverpool will have to decide whether to extend Van Dijk’s contract or take a risk that could prove expensive.