Jamie Carragher offers Virgil van Dijk contract timeline prediction - 'Mohamed Salah had his moment'
Liverpool have already ended uncertainty surrounding the future of Mohamed Salah as claims suggest captain Virgil van Dijk is on the verge of a new deal
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes the future of captain Virgil van Dijk will be resolved next week. The Reds are looking to bounce back against West Ham United, following last weekend's defeat to Fulham, but there was positive news in the build-up to the game as Mohamed Salah ended his contract uncertainty.
The 32-year-old signed a new two-year deal at Anfield, ending the season-long speculation surrounding his future.
Van Dijk provided a positive update regarding talks over an extension on Merseyside last week in light of the Craven Cottage disappointment and reports suggest that the Dutchman is also closing in on penning to fresh terms with the Reds.
News of Salah's extension was revealed on Friday, hours before Arne Slot addressed the assembled media for his pre-match press conference duties. The Egyptian, as well as Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, have faced scrutiny throughout the campaign over their futures amid the threat of becoming free agents in the summer when their deals expire.
Carragher believes with one already complete, another is imminent in the form of their everpresent skipper.
"Maybe, I think there might be some news on Virgil van Dijk next week," he said.
"I think the fact that the Mo Salah news came out, not do two players at once and steal the thunder, Virgil van Dijk or Mo Salah.
"Mo Salah had his moment a few days ago and I'm sure Van Dijk will next week."
The air of inevitability surrounds the Liverpool captain, who wore the armband for a 100th time against the Hammers on Sunday.
And Van Dijk sent fans into overdrive when providing the clearest hint of an extension yet. He said: "There is progress, yeah.
"I don’t know [if I'll stay], we’ll see. Listen (laughs), these are internal discussions and we’ll see.
"I love the club, I love the fans and they were there for us again and we wanted to reward them but I want them to be there Sunday again and make the stadium an amazing venue like always for us.
"We have to make it work and we will.
"We will be training quite a lot and we are in a very good position but games like this, especially in the first half, show the job is not done and I’ve been saying it every week.
"That’s definitely the mentality in our group that the job [of winning the league] is not done and now we just have to recover from this, physically and mentally, and put our minds on West Ham at home."