'Hopefully the money goes to the right place' - Virgil van Dijk makes 'hard' admission after Liverpool red card and £100,000 fine
Virgil van Dijk says he has learned a "hard and expensive lesson" from his sending-off at Newcastle United as the Liverpool captain faces up to an enforced break.
Van Dijk was dismissed after less than half an hour at St James' Park last month following a challenge on Alexander Isak and the Reds skipper's reaction to his red card subsequently landed him with an additional one-match suspension.
After sitting out the 3-0 win over Aston Villa last week, it was revealed on Friday that Van Dijk will now also miss the visit to Wolves after the international break, meaning the defender's next Premier League outing is likely to be at home to West Ham United on September 24.
On top of the increasing of the suspension, Van Dijk was also charged £100,000 for his outburst at the officials and the new Liverpool captain said he now wants to put the incident behind him.
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“It has been a hard and expensive lesson," Van Dijk told a press conference ahead of the Netherlands' upcoming clash with Ireland. “I can’t really say more about it. I have accepted it and I am happy that there is an end to it. Hopefully the money goes to the right people. A good cause is always better.”
Asked about the contributions of Liverpool and Netherlands colleague Cody Gakpo so far this term, Van Dijk added: "We have had four games this season, so I don’t think you can speak much about form.
"He is so important for both teams. He didn’t play last game for Liverpool as Darwin Nunez started after his fantastic game against Newcastle. The work [Gakpo] delivers in each game is incredible both in offense
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