Virgil van Dijk has revealed his role in Florian Wirtz’s club-record move to Anfield, telling the Germany international: “Liverpool is the place to be.”
Wirtz joined the Premier League champions from Bayer Leverkusen last month for a fee that could rise to £116million ($156million).
Liverpool had to fend off competition from Bayern Munich and Manchester City to secure his signature, with the Dutch defender personally calling Wirtz while he was weighing up his options.
“When I joined the club I said: ‘I don’t think there’s a better place to be than Liverpool’. I really feel that way,” Van Dijk said.
“We had a fantastic season and I feel like this can only become better. When Florian spoke to the club and certain players, I spoke to him as well a little bit, I’m sure he got a feel for it and then he made a decision.
“Coming here, he can really make a big impact in my opinion. It’s also down to him in terms of showing it every single day. He’s getting there and it’s good to see.”
Asked what he had told Wirtz on the phone, he added: “Ah, you want to know that! I spoke to him, when that was is between me and him. But I said to him: ‘Liverpool is the place to be’.”
After signing a new two-year contract in April, Van Dijk revealed that the Anfield hierarchy had told him it would be a “big summer” for the club in the transfer market — and it has certainly lived up to the hype.
The signing of striker Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt for a fee rising to £79million has taken Liverpool’s overall spending this window, including performance-related add-ons, to just under £300million.
Van Dijk believes this represents a strong statement of ambition as Arne Slot’s side look to build on last season’s title success.
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s been a bad transfer window in terms of the additions that we have made and the money we’ve spent. The club is obviously trying to improve our squad,” he added.
“The Premier League is incredibly strong so it’s only right that we have to improve too. We know we have a very good team but additions are always a plus and I’ve been really impressed with how they have settled in.
“Showing their qualities on the pitch is important, but also how they are off the pitch in terms of settling in with us. I’m sure if you asked them they would say they feel very welcome so far. They have clicked really well with the group.
“Listen, there are no guarantees in terms of retaining the title or winning more trophies. But improving the squad is always a good thing. Adding quality helps to raise the standard in both training and games.
“We’ve all seen it over the years, the team which is the most consistent wins titles, and that’s the aim we have. We want to show our quality in every single aspect of the game. That’s a very tough job. If it was easy then you’d have a lot of teams up there until the end.”
Ekitike joined Slot’s squad in Hong Kong on Thursday evening, with Van Dijk promising to do everything possible to help the French international settle in quickly.
Liverpool will play their opening tour match against AC Milan on Saturday at Kai Tak Stadium.
“We just had a very brief chat on the pitch. I’ll have a proper sit-down with him tonight,” he said.
“The message is ‘the hard work starts now’. That’s it. You’re playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world now. The pressure will be on you. You need to show your qualities.”
“To be absolutely honest, I think what’s even more important for me is the break I got,” he added.
“I had something like four and a half weeks off which is the longest I’ve had since…… I can’t even remember!
“To have this big pre-season now means we can work on so many aspects of our play which we can improve. Defending, attacking, set-pieces, build up. That’s the main thing we’ve trying to do.
“It’s good to see so many fans out here. The pitch was a bit difficult to play on but we’ll get some good minutes under our belt against AC Milan. Then we’ll head for Tokyo.”
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