Virgil van Dijk has been in sublime form this season as Liverpool find themselves at the top of the Premier League standings after six games.
The Dutch international has returned to his imperious best and has forged a fantastic central defensive partnership with Ibrahima Konate, who has also been in good form under new manager Arne Slot.
Van Dijk’s contract at the club runs out next summer and he is yet to put pen to paper on an extension, which has emerged as a cause of concern at Anfield.
There have been talks that the 33-year-old has returned to his pre-ACL injury levels when he came close to winning the Ballon d’Or in 2019.
However, other central defenders have made massive impressions in recent seasons, with Arsenal’s William Saliba, in particular, emerging as one of the standout players in his position.
And Paul Merson has given a definitive answer on who the better defender is between the two.
Paul Merson says Virgil van Dijk is better than William Saliba
Saliba has also enjoyed a brilliant start to the new campaign as he continues to marshal the Arsenal rearguard alongside Gabriel Magalhaes.
Despite the Arsenal man’s form over the past two seasons, Merson feels Van Dijk is still the better player, although he strangely claimed the Liverpool man wouldn’t get into the Gunners’ starting XI.
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“Does Van Dijk get into the Arsenal team now?
“He may be a better player, but he’s not getting in ahead of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes at the moment,” Merson wrote in his column for Sportskeeda.
Liverpool must do everything it takes to keep Van Dijk
Signed for a fee believed to be in the region of £75m – which was a world-record fee for a defender at the time – Van Dijk has more than repaid Liverpool’s faith in him with a series of outstanding displays since joining the club in January 2018.
The 33-year-old’s contract runs out next summer and he is no closer to signing an extension, but Liverpool must do everything it takes to get him to sign on the dotted line.
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Van Dijk has shown no signs of slowing down despite being well into his 30s and is the captain for Liverpool and the Netherlands.
The Reds can’t afford to lose one of their most important players at the start of Slot’s project, let alone on a free transfer.
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