Virgil van Dijk opens up on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool departure

Virgil van Dijk has insisted he and his teammates are determined to end Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp era on a high after he announced his decision to leave the club.

Klopp will stand down from his role as the Reds' manager at the end of the 2023/24 season, and his side have the opportunity to win four more trophies in that time.

Liverpool are through to the final of the Carabao Cup where they will face Chelsea, while they also sit top of the Premier League and are going strong in the FA Cup and Europa League.

In an interview with Liverpool's club channels, Van Dijk revealed he was shocked by the news but said there is new motivation for the team to win as much silverware as possible.

«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 said.

«He told us in private of course, and all of us were together. Like I said, it's a hard one to take but our mindset is to focus on business. We have a lot of targets still to achieve this year and why not finish the season on a high and together with celebrations for the boss as well?»

News of Klopp's decision has stunned the footballing world and made headlines across the globe, but Van Dijk believes it is important to now silence the outside noise.

«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,» he added.

«For us and for me personally as well, I want to make sure the rest of the boys think like that