Virgil van Dijk becomes first Liverpool player to speak out on Jurgen Klopp exit

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has challenged his team-mates to make sure they give Jurgen Klopp the "farewell he definitely deserves" this season.

Klopp announced a shock decision to leave Anfield at the end of the campaign after nine years at the club, admitting he no longer has the energy levels required to do the job properly next season.

The news became public less than 48 hours after the Reds had booked their place in next month's Carabao Cup final with a 3-2 aggregate win over Fulham at Craven Cottage and Klopp will host his close friend David Wagner and his Norwich City side in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

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With the Premier League leaders in possession of a five-point advantage at the summit and with a last-16 Europa League tie to come in March, Van Dijk says he and his colleagues will ensure Klopp has the sort of end to the campaign that will be fitting for a manager who has lifted every top-level trophy available in the last five years.

In an interview with Liverpoolfc.com, Van Dijk became the first Reds player to speak publicly about his manager's end-of-season exit plan and admits it is a difficult prospect to imagine.

"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," Van Dijk said. "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.

"I think it will be a collective feeling and like I said already, I didn't have any feeling so far that that wasn't the