Arne Slot shares what Virgil van Dijk has in his locker that few players have nowadays after Liverpool star signs new contract

Up until a few weeks ago, Liverpool fans were sweating over the futures of three of their star players.

Things then became especially tense after Trent Alexander-Arnold seemingly opted for a move to Real Madrid this summer.

However, Liverpool have now succeeded in securing the long-term futures of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Last week, Salah committed his future to Liverpool, with Richard Hughes having played a major role in getting the Salah contract deal over the line.

And this week, Van Dijk has joined Salah in penning a new two-year contract at Anfield, much to the delight of Arne Slot and many others.

Slot has now spoken about the qualities that Van Dijk brings to training and what makes him unusual these days.

Photo by Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

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Slot, speaking to Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports, described Van Dijk’s new contract as “huge news” for the club.

He went on to describe Van Dijk as one of a “few leaders” left in football as he spoke of how he’s much more than just a tall, physically imposing individual.

“Huge news for the club, for the fans, for our players and for our staff, [we’re all] so pleased,” Slot told Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports.

“Everybody knows how good of a player he is when they see him playing during the weekend, and we also know how important he is. I also know how important he is during the week when we train.

“He is one of the few leaders there are still in the world of football for a team, and apart from that he’s shown this season again how important he is on the pitch.

“But he’s not only a leader because he’s big and tall. He’s also smart, players respect him a lot, and he brings a lot of energy into training sessions.

“He knows what he says, he knows how to motivate his team-mates to get the best out of us every single day.”

Why Arne Slot was surprised by Virgil van Dijk in manager’s first Liverpool training session

Slot previously spoke about how Van Dijk impressed him with how good he was on the ball when he first arrived at Liverpool as manager.

The Reds boss reiterated this in conversation with Carragher, explaining how players simply couldn’t get free in between the lines.

“Apart from that, when it comes to quality, I was surprised how incredibly good he is with bringing the ball out from the back,” said Slot.

“The first training session we did we were trying to get players free in between the lines, and he found them constantly.

“I knew how good of a player he was (before I arrived at Anfield), how important he was, but that he was that good on the ball was even a surprise to me.”

TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey recently revealed how Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea were all monitoring the Van Dijk situation closely.

However, Van Dijk’s camp always believed the veteran defender would remain at Liverpool, and this has proven to be the case.

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