Empire of the Kop
·9 août 2025
Virgil van Dijk reacts to huge Liverpool transfers with six-word statement

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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·9 août 2025
Virgil van Dijk has lauded Liverpool’s summer transfer window signings ahead of the new season.
The Merseysiders have already secured eight new additions to the squad – including £100m (up front) arrival Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
Further additions are expected before the window closes, with the club reportedly in pole position to land Marc Guehi.
(Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Van Dijk was asked for his thoughts on Liverpool’s latest recruits following their involvement in pre-season.
‘So far they have been great’ was the Dutchman’s verdict on the Reds’ new boys, ahead of our upcoming Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The 34-year-old went on to promise that he and Mo Salah would do their best to look after Wirtz and Co., and help them settle into their new surroundings on Merseyside.
“So far they have been great,” the Dutchman told the club’s official website.
“Obviously it’s not easy to come to a club like Liverpool and show yourself straight away, but I’m very confident that the guys we have added to the team can play a good part in hopefully success this season.
“There’s a lot more coming than just playing football, being part of Liverpool. That’s what we are also for, we have to be there for the guys and we will be. It has been a good pre-season.”
“Integration” seems such a small thing in football. You need to recruit well, install a capable head coach with the willpower and quality to guide a team to top honours.
The notion of integration almost gets brushed to one side. Have you ticked all the other boxes? Yes? Then you’ve got yourself a title-winning team.
Those associated with Liverpool, of course, know all too well the importance of the leadership group and the culture that enables recruits from within and beyond the borders of the Premier League to settle at Anfield.
Importantly for Virgil van Dijk and Co., the responsibility of integration is one that will be partly shouldered by Giovanni van Bronckhorst and the coaching staff.
“It is part of our tasks as a staff. Players come in new to the team, they come from different competitions, so some players have to adjust to the Premier League,” the assistant coach told liverpoolfc.com.
“Some come from the Premier League, but one thing is for sure: all of the players have the quality to be a Liverpool player and it is up to us to guide them, to keep trying to develop them into better players every day. That’s our task as coaches and also the thing we love to do.”
No specific names were mentioned, but it’s a pretty fair answer from the skipper ahead of what should be an enthralling 2025/26 campaign.
Florian Wirtz, owing partly to his price-tag and style of play, is an obvious pick as the standout of Liverpool’s pre-season.
Though to be completely fair, the German international has more than earned attention thanks to his remarkable fluidity on the pitch.
Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong likewise bring with them considerable dynamism to the flanks, and we expect there’s more to come from Hugo Ekitike after a relatively reserved start to life at L4.
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