Virgil van Dijk breaks silence on  Klopp’s surprise Liverpool exit

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has broken his silence on Jurgen Klopp’s sudden exit.

Reds manager Klopp stunned the world of football on Friday by announcing his decision to stand down at the end of the current season. It marks the end of a hugely successful nine-year stint in charge at Anfield for the German, having transformed a struggling club into Premier League and Champions League winners.

One of Klopp’s key players over the years has been defender Van Dijk, who he signed for £75million in 2017. And the legendary Liverpool centre-back has admitted the news was “tough to take”.

Speaking on Klopp’s departure for the first time, Van Dijk said: “It’s a hard one to take, because the manager means so much for us, to me, to the club, to the whole Premier League I think. But he made the decision for him and his family. It was always going to be a tough one and it was definitely the case.”

Van Dijk went on to reveal that Klopp told his players he would be leaving in private prior to the big announcement. But the Netherlands skipper insisted the squad is laser-focused on their ambitions for the rest of the season.

He said: “I think how we always try to manage noise from the outside. Of course this is massive, it’s massive news in football. For us, it was also a very big day. But we have big targets this year and that’s definitely stressed by the manager as well.

“For us and for me personally as well, I want to make sure the rest of the boys think like that too. I think that’s the case as well. We all want to achieve so much and that mindset was already there since pre-season and that doesn’t change.

“It will maybe even give you an extra boost to do that extra or maybe enjoy it a little bit even more together and make the last part of the season, the last bit of the manager’s time at the club, the best time he’s ever had.”

“I will leave the club at the end of the season,” he said. “I can understand that it’s a shock for a lot of people in this moment, when you hear it for the first time, but obviously I can explain it – or at least try to explain it.

“It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy. I have no problem now, obviously, I knew it already for longer that I will have to announce it at one point, but I am absolutely fine now. I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.”