- Virgil van Dijk has signed a two-year contract extension with Liverpool
- Van Dijk’s salary will make him the best-paid defender in Europe
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Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is set to earn around £400,000-a-week after signing a new two-year deal with the club.
Following a lengthy saga over whether the centre back would extend his stay at Anfield beyond this summer, Van Dijk, 33, has finally put pen to paper on a contract that will keep him on Merseyside until June 2027.
The Dutch defender will turn 36 just days after his new contract expires, but that has not stopped Liverpool splashing the cash to keep him on their books.
Mail Sport understands he has not taken a pay cut, and will be paid just shy of the £400,000-a-week mark moving forward.
This is a similar figure to Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah, who signed a £380,000-a-week deal last week.
Van Dijk’s contract makes him the best-paid defender in Europe, while it does not include a release clause.
Virgil van Dijk has signed a new two-year contract with Liverpool
His new deal will see him earn just shy of £400,000-a-week, making him Europe’s best-paid defender
Van Dijk will earn a similar salary to Mo Salah, who signed a new contract last week
Handing a player a little over two months away from their 34th birthday such a lucrative deal could be seen as a gamble by some fans.
However, Van Dijk has played a crucial role in Liverpool’s success over the past seven years since joining from Southampton for £75m.
He is on the brink of captaining the team to their second Premier League title, while Van Dijk has also won two League Cups, the Champions League and FA Cup with the Reds.
Liverpool announced his contract extension on Thursday morning with a tweet that read: ‘The skipper stays,’ alongside an image of Van Dijk with the caption: ‘It was always Liverpool.’
Van Dijk also insisted that despite the contract saga dragging out over several months, he was always convinced that he would remain a Liverpool player.
‘I’m very happy, very proud,’ Van Dijk told the club’s official website. ‘There are so many emotions obviously that go through my head right now speaking about it.
‘It’s a proud feeling, it’s a feeling of joy. It’s just incredible. The journey I’ve had so far in my career, to be able to extend it with another two years at this club is amazing and I’m so happy.’
He added: ‘It was always Liverpool. That was the case. It was always in my head, it was always the plan and it was always Liverpool.
‘There wasn’t any doubt in my head that this is the place to be for me and my family. I’m one of Liverpool. Someone called me the other day an adopted Scouser – I’m really proud to hear these things, it gives me a great feeling.’
