There’s no rush to get Virgil van Dijk back into the Liverpool team this season unless they make it to the final stages of the Champions League, so everything has to be about getting him fit for next year.
There’s always the problem that Holland will feel they have a much better chance of doing something in the Euros this summer if he’s back in the side, so a big decision will need to be made at some point.
The last thing anyone needs is for him to come back too early just to hurt himself again, but the Dutch camp are starting to make noises about him being fit for the tournament.
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Goal reported on some comments from Van Dijk’s potential defensive partner Matthijs de Ligt, and you can see they are hopeful that he will recover in time:
“We had a meeting, [Van Dijk] was there too. He looked very good, he seemed very fresh and free. Of course, I don’t know how he feels physically, he doesn’t really want to put any pressure on himself either.
“He has a clear mind and looks at it day by day. He is calm and wants to see where he’s at, at moment the Euros are starting.
“I think it’s important for him to be calm, and to be able to recuperate from his injury without any pressure from us or from the country.
“He will decide if he will be at the Euros. If he’s there, he’s there. If he’s not there, other guys will have to fill his shoes. But he looked well.”
Ultimately it looks like it will come down to a situation where Liverpool would rather he took some extra time to recover while Holland will be desperate for him to return for the tournament, but there’s still plenty of time to assess his recovery before making the final call.