Liverpool captain Van Dijk holds meeting with boss to decide future

Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk has held a face-to-face meeting with new Netherlands boss Xavi to come to a decision over his international future. Van Dijk, 35, has earned 96 caps for his country throughout his career.

But there is a changing of the guard being completed within the Dutch FA, with the nation having only managed to reach the round of 32 of the World Cup. Ronald Koeman left in the aftermath of the tournament, with former Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez being appointed as his replacement.

It appears that there is some uncertainty over whether Van Dijk will be playing a role for the side in the future. And in an effort to come to a decision, the defender has sought talks with new boss Xavi.

It is reported in the Dutch media that a meeting will be held between the pair over the coming weeks, while they also held talks in midweek when Liverpool took on Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

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“I feel that I can still be valuable and important to the team,” Van Dijk said recently about his future. “If we see eye to eye on that, we have two good years ahead of us leading up to Euro 2028. And if not, then we’ll see.”

The Netherlands have four games scheduled during the international break. They will take on Germany in their Nations League opener, ahead of two games against Serbia, and another against Greece.

And while Van Dijk will be keen to find a resolution on his international future soon, the same could also be said of his Liverpool outlook. Van Dijk has just a year remaining on his contract with Liverpool, albeit it has been suggested that Anfield chiefs will put any talks over a renewed deal on hold until next year.

In the meantime, the Reds will be able to get their stuttering season under Andoni Iraola underway. They have drawn three out of their opening four games of the campaign following Saturday’s stalemate with Fulham.

Asked why his side are struggling, Iraola said: “I think there is a lack of freshness, definitely – we cannot hide it. I think it's the worst turnaround in terms of 60-something hours between the games, after a very big game the other day.

“But this is going to happen more times. Maybe with one more day but sometimes it's going to be the same way during the season. We have to adapt to these circumstances.

“And it's these kind of games that you need to win sometimes with a set-play, sometimes with the shot from the edge, sometimes from a moment of brilliance from the offensive players, and we haven't had that today. We've been clearly not as good offensively as we've been [in] other days.”