Virgil van Dijk is 35, out of contract next summer, and his latest interview sounded like a man rehearsing a goodbye rather than a renewal.

“You’ll see it in the future. Before you know it, it’s gone!” the Liverpool captain said in a Sky Sports interview trailed by TeamTalk.

“Eventually, when I have to walk out of the club, it will be a very emotional day. It’s been an incredible journey.”

That is not the language of someone negotiating an extension, and no talks are underway. Van Dijk’s deal runs to the summer of 2027, he earns £350,000 a week, and Football365 reports that Liverpool are prepared to listen to serious offers rather than block his exit, with AC Milan already making inquiries through intermediaries.

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Liverpool won, but at a cost

Alexander Isak settled the game in the 70th minute after Victor Munoz had cancelled out Keane Lewis-Potter’s opener. Liverpool played the last half-hour against ten men and the final seconds against nine, after Yehor Yarmoliuk was shown red for violent conduct and Vitaly Janelt collected a second yellow in stoppage time.

Iraola refused to be swept up in it.

“Definitely we got a good battle today,” the head coach told reporters. “They are very important three points for us because I think it’s very difficult to win here.”

The win was also expensive. Dominik Szoboszlai pulled up with a recurrence of his hamstring injury in the first half, and Jeremie Frimpong lasted seven minutes of the second before coming off with a fresh problem of his own.

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The right-back hole just got deeper

Frimpong’s withdrawal makes an existing crisis acute. Conor Bradley has been out since January with ligament and bone damage in his left knee, and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 2025 move to Real Madrid left Liverpool one specialist short to begin with. Iraola now has no fit senior right-back and a January window still weeks away.

The £116m question

Florian Wirtz, signed from Bayer Leverkusen for a British-record £116.5m, has yet to settle. Iraola has publicly backed him, but after a difficult first season the German’s output in the final third is still being questioned by pundits in England.

Up front, Hugo Ekitike is nowhere close. The French striker ruptured his Achilles in April against Paris Saint-Germain, and Iraola has described a December return as the realistic target.

Alisson’s deal is running out too

Van Dijk is not the only senior figure heading into free agency. Alisson’s contract also expires in the summer of 2027, and Liverpool have yet to open talks with the goalkeeper, who could leave for nothing if nothing changes.

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Liverpool host Villarreal at Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Szoboszlai and Frimpong both doubts and Ekitike still months away.

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