Virgil van Dijk has confirmed he is still no closer to signing a new Liverpool contract. The captain's current deal expires in less than 12 months and it was thought tying him to an extension would be a priority over the summer.
Mohamed Salah and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold also see their contracts run out at the end of the upcoming 2024-25 season. Yet the Dutchman, speaking after the Reds beat Sevilla 4-1 in a pre-season friendly at Anfield, insists no progress has been made in talks between his representatives and the club.
The 33-year-old is entering his second season as skipper and his first under countryman Arne Slot. It will be his seventh full campaign on Merseyside since joining from Southampton for a then-club record fee of £75million in January 2018.
Van Dijk has been one of the very best centre-halves in the world since then and declared in May that he is "very happy" at Liverpool and loves the club. Yet after the Sevilla win, he said: "There's no changes at the moment."
That comment will worry Liverpool supporters given the Netherlands international currently stands to leave on a free transfer next summer. And talking of transfers, Van Dijk is keen to see some new players join the squad.
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Sporting director Richard Hughes is still trying to prise Martin Zubimendi away from Real Sociedad. The Spanish Euro 2024 winner has yet to confirm whether or not he is willing to leave his boyhood club to join Liverpool but the matter is expected to be wrapped up in the next few days.
It's understood the midfielder, who has a £51million release clause in his contract, is highly tempted by the proposition of heading to Anfield. But La Real are making a desperate attempt to keep him in San Sebastian for at least another year.
Slot has yet to make any signings as Liverpool manager despite the Reds being keen on recruiting in defence, midfield and attack. Van Dijk said: "Obviously I think we should make some signings based on how long the season will go but I think they are working behind the scenes.
"I am fully convinced and trust the club that they will do the right thing for us and get the best possible squad in order to compete in every competition that we are in. That is the main thing I am focusing on, having the trust and we will see what happens.
"I think they are working very hard behind the scenes, we will see how that pans out." Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp in the summer fresh from a season in which Liverpool finished third after being in the title race for much of the campaign and won the Carabao Cup against Chelsea at Wembley.
Of the goals for Slot's first season, his fellow Dutchman Van Dijk added: "We go as far as we can and that's the aim. I have ambitions, we all have ambitions. We all want to achieve the best that we can.
"We're participating in each competition to try and win it. It's almost impossible to do that but we are ready for the start of the Premier League and then we hopefully grow into the season and do very well."
Liverpool played two friendlies in one day on Sunday, beating Sevilla 4-1 in front of fans before a 0-0 draw with Las Palmas behind closed doors. Slot said to LFCTV afterwards: "We saw some great goals in the first game.
"Already in the first game, there were also a few moments where we have to improve. Conceded a goal, of course. Second game, we didn't score, but we didn't concede as well.
"In general, I saw many good things. I don't think everybody is on the same fitness level at the moment. A few of them that were only with us for a week, they showed today that they are absolutely ready to play next week.
"I also saw a few that need to go up in fitness level to be ready to play next week or to come in next week. I think that's normal. It's always like this. Some of them come back stronger than others. You could see that today.
"Pre-season overall, when you look at the grand picture, has been very successful. You always want to reach perfection, which we all know we're never going to reach. But until now, we're quite far away from perfection in my opinion. We came first 10 to 15 minutes, lost the ball far too many times.
"I think after the set-piece goal we scored, we became stronger and stronger. That was a well-deserved win. Overall, we are getting there. But there are a lot of steps to make to become the team that I would like us to become."
