Van Dijk dreading Klopp departure date

Virgil van Dijk  and Jurgen Klopp (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk admits he is already dreading the goodbye speeches he will have to make when manager Jurgen Klopp departs the club at the end of the season.

Speaking to ITV News, Van Dijk says parting with the manager who has spent nine years at the club will be difficult. 

"Very difficult. I’m a very emotional person and I don't like to say goodbyes. Being the captain now, it's gonna be horrible in the sense you probably have to speak a little bit. And like I say that day I'll be dreading. 

"It's pretty clear that he’s been a monumental figure for the club for so many years, the successes that we had, the impact he had on the community, the clubs around the world. If you think about Liverpool you think about Jurgen Klopp.

"I'm very, very grateful for everything he's done for me, but especially for the football club, you know, he's brought the club back to where it belongs. And he leaves the club, I think it's also in a very good place still to have successful the future - yeah, he deserves all the applause that he will get and still get."

The Dutch defender know the goodbye ceremonies will be much easier to handle if there is more silverware at hand to go with the Carabao Cup already banked. 

"It makes it a lot easier if we have success. So that's the aim at the moment. But it's difficult and it's not only the boss who is leaving, it's going to be a lot of changes and more staff leaving, but it will be a tough day, but until the day that we’ll fight and be positive and put all our focus into that to be positive, and put all of our focus and effort in that and make the season successful.

"We know at the end of the season it will be emotional. But we can make it emotional and a good way by winning trophies. We want to do it for ourselves. We want to do for the boss. We want to do for the football club around the world. The fans around the world I mean."

Van Dijk advises the next Liverpool boss to put his own stamp on the club and not try to imitate Klopp.

"Obviously I had a great captain before I joined the club with Jordan Henderson. I've learned a lot from him. And I had if I had questions going forward, I would definitely go to him. But at the end of the day you want to do things in your own way. as well. You want to bring what you think is important for the team or what will be successful to the team. That's what you bring to the table. That's right. I think I'm sure the manager will definitely have that feeling. But if there's any questions or anything, he would like to advise me, I would definitely do that because we'll always be together and that's the only way to get success in the future."