Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net

Read our Privacy notice

The way Virgil van Dijk put it on Sunday, a saga had the feel of a formality.

As he put it, it was “always Liverpool, it was always in my head, it was always the plan.”

Van Dijk has followed Mohamed Salah to extend his Liverpool deal (Getty)

If the inexplicable element is why contract talks took so long when both parties wanted him to stay, this has been the least dramatic of stories, in part because Van Dijk has brought his nonchalance from the pitch to every interview in which he has been asked about his future.

Jurgen Klopp shared similar sentiments: while Manchester City did not feel Van Dijk was worth £75m, a world-record fee for a defender, the German had no qualms about paying it.

The sense was that Van Dijk’s love affair began before he joined; seduced by the idea of playing for Liverpool and Klopp, he formed a partnership with the manager who bought him, two towering figures giving the club a presence, and another with his successor, two unruffled Dutchmen.

Van Dijk was unusually demonstrative when kissing the badge after scoring his late winner against West Ham on Sunday, but the captaincy means a lot to him.

That Van Dijk scored the goal that secured the first trophy of his captaincy, the Carabao Cup last year when a youthful team overcame Chelsea, was significant: he looks to lead by example.

Van Dijk is Liverpool’s ‘colossus’ who raises the level of his team-mates (Getty)

He has bought into Liverpool, the culture and the history of the club, and was pleased, he said, when someone recently called him an adopted Scouser.

Van Dijk will be charged with straddling eras.

Arne Slot’s new team will be built around old heads in Van Dijk and Salah (Getty)

It is not only the captaincy that means his importance stretches beyond his own performances.
For more news relating to West Ham, visit our sister site WHU Latest Live.