Slot hails 'outstanding leader' Van Dijk despite lack of contract update

Liverpool boss Arne Slot praised Virgil van Dijk as the Reds skipper faces a crunch call on his future at Anfield.

The Reds will start 2025 as Premier League leaders, after their 3-1 home win over Leicester City on Boxing Day moved them seven points clear at the summit.

Van Dijk has been central to Slot's strong start to life on Merseyside, starting all 17 Premier League games this season with his side conceding just 17 goals.

Only Arsenal (16) have conceded fewer goals than Liverpool in the top-flight, and Van Dijk has the joint-highest number of clean sheets of any outfield Premier League player since the start of the campaign, with seven.

The 33-year-old has been locked in contract extension talks with the club in recent weeks, alongside Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the trio all seeing their existing deals expire at the end of the season.

Current rules state all three can start free transfer negotiations with non-Premier League teams from the start of 2025, but a move cannot be completed until the summer.

Van Dijk has indicated his desire to remain at the club, as he nears 300 appearances since his 2018 arrival from Southampton, but Slot suggested no firm progress has been made as 2024 draws to a close.

"He has been a tremendous player, such a great player for Liverpool for so many years," Slot told BBC Sport.

"I can only tell you my experiences with him, and he's been not only what you see – because you see him during the game, and he's outstanding – but he has such a big impact in training sessions as well.

"He's the vocal leader of this team. Every time we start an exercise, he's on top of his team-mates, and he leads by example. 

"For me, he has been outstanding, and we can only hope he continues showing this during the games and in the training sessions, as long as he's with us."