Richard Hughes ready to 'sit down' and discuss exit of 'complete' Liverpool star | OneFootball

Liverpool's team is probably going to look completely different by the start of the 2026-27 season.

After Victor Munoz's arrival, transfer news from Anfield has slowed down with some journalists even saying that the Reds don't really need to sign that many more players.

However, the fact that Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson have all left means that there are still several voids that need to be filled.

This, coupled with the fact that the Reds didn't even replace Luis Diaz last summer means that there's still a lot of work to be done.

So, the fact that exits are being spoken about is rather worrying, especially when it's one of the Reds' best players who is being put onto the chopping block.

Richard Hughes is ready to discuss Virgil van Dijk's Liverpool exit this summer

Virgil van Dijk is still one of Liverpool's most important players even though he's already 35 years old.

The Dutchman has been the Reds' best defender over the last couple of years and, without him, it's unclear how much worse things would've been for the Anfield outfit last term, but, it certainly wouldn't have been easier.

However, now that he's entering the final year of his contract, talk about his future will be around for most of the season.

But, since the club only have four senior centre-backs among their ranks at the moment, you wouldn't expect them to be looking at moving one of them on.

That is, unless an update from Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb is to be believed as they claim that Richard Hughes is now ready to discuss the centre-back's Liverpool exit.

"Now we are working on Van Dijk, a great idea of Ibra," they wrote.

"Complicated operation, very difficult, but not impossible.

"The biggest obstacle is the engagement of around fifteen million, unthinkable for the Rossoneri. The Dutchman is 34 years old, but he could still be that great leader that Milan has been looking for for too long.

"Liverpool is ready to sit down, we follow the developments and an idea on how to spread the engagement."

Liverpool cannot let Virgil van Dijk go this summer

Even if Liverpool ended up signing two new centre-backs to try and replace Van Dijk, they'd still have nowhere near as much of an impact on the team as the Dutchman.

He's the clubs current captain and, since two of his centre-back partners are going to be under the age of 21, he will have to use every bit of experience he has to try and get the best out of them.

Of course, Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni are both incredibly talented players but, since neither of them have played in the Premier League before, it's going to be a huge step up for them.

If Liverpool were going to get a decent chunk of change for Van Dijk's transfer, a deal would maybe make sense but, since he's 35 and only has a year left on his current contract, AC Milan will probably try and sign him for close to nothing.

Much like their rivals, Inter Milan, are trying to do with Curtis Jones.

complete" defender, it would almost certainly end up being a huge mistake.