Marco van Basten has issued a plea to Jurgen Klopp to allow Virgil van Dijk to play at the Euros this summer, as reported by the Echo.
The Dutchman is in the process of recovering from an ACL injury sustained last year, following a nasty challenge in the Merseyside derby.
“If Virgil van Dijk goes with Holland to the European Championships in June and is going to train himself up to his peak strength then he will be able to play a few matches,” the AC Milan legend said. “That will benefit the player but also his club.”
“Virgil will be in his best shape for Liverpool and Klopp because he will be playing at the top level for the start of next season,” Van Basten added.
While we appreciate Van Basten’s request, given the brilliance of the player in question, one might suspect Jurgen Klopp will be slightly reluctant to sanction the player’s attendance of the competition given that he is yet to fully recover.
The signs are no doubt positive, but for the defender to take an active part in Holland’s Euros campaign would surely severely risk aggravating his current injury.
We can recognise the logic underpinning the plea, but it would ultimately be of no benefit to either Liverpool or the Dutch international side if Van Dijk were to be out of action for a prolonged period beyond the summer.
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