Virgil Van Dijk appears to be delighted with the news that Diogo Jota has signed a new contract at Liverpool.
Liverpool announced the update with a picture on their Instagram page on Tuesday afternoon. And Van Dijk posted his reaction with a simple flame emoji.
No words needed from Virgil. The emoji says it all. Hot news involving a player who was absolutely on fire at times last sseason.
With the contract now done and dusted, Jota can put full focus on getting himself back fit and available to Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool focus on tying players down
Just as they did last season, Liverpool have put significant focus on tying down players this summer.
The big one is obviously Mohamed Salah. Other player’s values to the group shouldn’t be played down, but Salah’s extension announcement was the one every Liverpool fan was hoping for.
Alongside Mo and Jota, Joe Gomez and James Milner have also signed new terms. Neither are currently first-choice options for Klopp, but are important cogs in the machine nevertheless.
They joined Van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson in committing to the club within the last year.
Still work to do on the contract front
Despite the drive to get players on longer-term deals, Liverpool still have some work to do in this area. Both Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino have now entered the last year on their agreements.
While neither player is absolutely critical any longer, both would leave a certain hole in the squad.
Firmino in particular would be a massive loss, while to surrender Keita on a free transfer would represent horrendous business from Liverpool.
It will be interesting to see whether Liverpool now turn their attention to negotiating extensions for either player. Keita had been reportedly on the way to signing a new deal but talk has gone quiet in recent weeks.
Bobby meanwhile has been subject to plenty of transfer discussion, with Juventus said to be interested. That talk has been dismissed, but Liverpool now need to make a decision on his future.
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