Ryan Gravenberch has shared that national teammate Virgil van Dijk pushed him to accept a move to Liverpool.
The 22-year-old has been arguably Liverpool’s best player this season and supporters have none other than the Reds’ club captain to thank for the midfielder being brought in last summer.
Speaking on the Liverpool FC YouTube channel, the Dutch international said: “Yeah, I had a couple of chats with him [Van Dijk] and he just spoke about this club that it is amazing. And it was pushing in my head and that’s why I decided to come here.”
One has to wonder at the kind of conversations that would have been held between Richard Hughes and Co. had the Merseysiders failed in their pursuit of the former Bayern star.
The club was truly fortunate to have Gravenberch available to mould under new head coach Arne Slot – particularly after missing out on priority target Martin Zubimendi in the summer.
Van Dijk’s love for Liverpool might help with contract talks
We can reasonably infer from our midfielder’s comments that Van Dijk adores playing for Liverpool Football Club. One would then hope that this indicates the odds are in our favour when it comes to the prospect of our January 2018 signing extending his time at Anfield.
The Dutch captain’s current terms are set to expire at the end of this season. However, he’s reportedly understood to have told his close friends that he wants to extend his contract at the club.
In defence of the difficult decision our sporting director, Richard Hughes, needs to make, the veteran centre-back will turn 34 before the start of the next campaign. With that in mind, any potential contract offer on the table is unlikely to be the biggest of the No.4’s career to date.
Nonetheless, it would be remiss of us to ignore the fact that the powerful defender has shown no signs of slowing down and is still quite easily one of the best players in the world.
Gravenberch’s comments certainly indicate that the former UEFA Men’s Player of the Year thinks highly of the club he captains. Further to the point, he’s already made clear he would be open to remaining at Anfield for the next two years.
Either way, it wouldn’t hurt Liverpool to tug on his emotional connection to the club in order to convince him to stay at L4 for a few more years.