‘Will he want another season like this?’ – Virgil van Dijk tipped to follow Klopp and QUIT Liverpool by Holland legend
DUTCH legend Ronald De Boer reckons this summer might be the right time for Virgil van Dijk to leave Liverpool.
It will be the end of an era at Anfield when this season concludes as legendary boss Jurgen Klopp will step down.
Iconic forward Mohamed Salah could well be on his way to Saudi Arabia too, while Netherlands star Van Dijk has previously hinted he may leave also after six trophy-laden years with the club.
Former Champions League winner De Boer, 53, told talkSPORT: “He’s looking of course [whether] it’s now time to go.
“Maybe not winning a prize and you think, hmm, do I want another year like that? I don’t know.
“Maybe he can make a great transfer for the end of his career enjoying his football life, maybe in the States, maybe somewhere else, I don’t know, that’s up to him.
“If he’s really, really happy at Liverpool and thinks he’s still got it in him and thinks he can bring that energy every day in training and also on the pitch, maybe he will stay.
“I can’t look in his mind of course and know what he is thinking.
“But there is a possibility, of course. There is a time for coming and going so maybe it’s time to go.”
Van Dijk, who turns 33 in July, was scathing of his team-mates after Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at city rivals Everton left their Premier League title hopes hanging by a thread.
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Feyenoord chief Arne Slot is the favourite to take over from Klopp and talks with Liverpool have already begun.
De Boer loves the football approach of compatriot Slot – but picked out the toils of another Dutch boss when asked if the Feyenoord chief would be successful at Anfield.
The ex-Rangers forward replied: “You never know, we thought [Erik] Ten Hag did remarkably well at Ajax, we thought he was the perfect replacement to take over the Man Utd job and he’s struggling.
“But what I know from Arne Slot, he did incredible things. What stands out the most is his philosophy about football.
“You see what he has done with Feyenoord in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, against Lazio, all good teams. Every time he surprised me as a manager.
“Also when he talks about football it’s logical sense. When he talks to the press he’s honest but very clear with what he wants to explain. Everyone is really fond of him.”
Slot snubbed Spurs, hates defending and has a PASS named after him
By Dan King
LIVERPOOL managerial target Arne Slot was a good enough player to have a type of pass named after him.
But it is as a manager that the Feyenoord head coach is really making his mark.
Like another bald Dutchman, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, Slot earned his stripes bossing smaller sides before being given a chance at one of the Netherlands’ big three.
But the question Liverpool are pondering is whether Slot would make a better fist of running one of the biggest clubs in the world than Ten Hag so far has at Old Trafford.
Slot, 45, was certainly easier on the eye as a player than centre back Ten Hag.
“The Arne Slot Ball” was something he perfected as a silky No 10 – a back-to-goal, first-time, 180-degree spin and flick behind the defensive line for a winger to run on to deep in the opposition half.
Click here to read all about the incoming Liverpool boss.