Virgil van Dijk has set the record straight on his Liverpool future, declaring: “I love the club, I love the fans.”
The Dutchman appeared to hint that he could well follow Jurgen Klopp out of the exit door this summer in an interview given following Sunday’s FA Cup victory over Norwich.
Asked if he could see himself as part of a future at Anfield under a new manager, Van Dijk replied: “That’s a big question. Well, I don’t know.”
However, he has now claimed those comments were taken out of context and reiterated that his focus is fully on ensuring Liverpool enjoy a successful end to the campaign.
He told Men In Blazers: “It’s much taken out of context. To be 100 per cent clear, I’m fully committed to the club. I love the club, I love the fans. It is fully taken out of context.
“It’s not about me, it’s not about I, it’s about us and nothing has changed. Five days ago we weren’t even speaking about my contract, it’s silly.
“My full focus is on making sure this year can be a very special year.
“Obviously it was a big announcement the last couple of days, it’s been a shock to each one of us connected to the club, and I felt exactly what the fans were feeling in that exact moment.
“But we mean business here, we want to crack on and achieve things that we dreamed of at the start of the season. We are in a good position so let’s give it our all.
“Like I said in the start, don’t get it twisted, I’m fully committed to the club, I love it and love each and every second. I’m the captain and we’re going to go for it all, let’s see how that goes.”
Van Dijk’s desire to say farewell to Klopp with silverware is such that he remained reluctant to go too deeply into how the German’s departure will affect him and the squad.
He continued: “Just the human being. He’s a bit of a father for us as a squad and he’s been that steady figure for so many years.
“It’s going to be strange not having him after this season but I don’t want to speak about it too much because we’re still in the mix of it, we’re still focused on things we want to achieve.”
