With Real Madrid linked, can Liverpool afford to lose Virgil van Dijk?

[infobox id="c5ce5f5a-ccb6-468f-9fce-bb4a330c372a" /][p]That's because captain and stalwart [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-dijk-virgil/U59RNqOr/"]Virgil van Dijk[/a] will be out of contract and, at this stage, there's no sign of the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Reds[/a] offering him a new one.[/p][h2]No player is bigger than the club[/h2][p]The Dutchman will be 36 by the beginning of the 2027/28 season, and if Liverpool are serious about bringing the glory days back to Anfield on a regular basis, then making more tough decisions is something that has to be considered.[/p][p]No player is bigger than a club, and that's as true for van Dijk as for anyone else. The recent departure of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Mo Salah[/a] is a prime example. Players come and go, but the institution remains.[/p][embed guid="b954dec5-65f7-44d8-848b-1fd2e79a1d9f" url="https://x.com/LFC/status/2104526544949461158/photo/1" social-type="twitter" /][p]There haven't been too many players of late, however, that can command and lead a team as Van Dijk has at Liverpool.[/p][p]His absence, were it to come to pass, would be hugely noticeable, particularly as there don't appear to be too many players that could fill the void that the Dutch colossus would leave behind.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a] could offer van Dijk a new home[/h2][p]With there still being some confusion as to exactly what will happen next for Van Dijk, reports in Spain have suggested that Real Madrid could well be interested in offering him a short-term deal, given that he would arrive as a free agent.[/p][p]It isn't clear whether such a move would appeal to the player himself, though it would potentially allow him to hook up with his previous central defensive partner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/konate-ibrahima/QJlbDbQe/"]Ibrahima Konate[/a].[/p][embed guid="b04128d9-7457-450d-92cb-6746cad6b81b" url="https://x.com/LFC/status/2098434388606247190" social-type="twitter" /][p]Jose Mourinho isn't a manager who will acquire players for the sake of it either, but if he genuinely feels that Van Dijk has something to offer, then the Portuguese won't look a gift horse in the mouth.[/p][p]Since the beginning of the 2025/26 campaign, no one at Liverpool has started more than Van Dijk's 61 matches, with only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mac-allister-alexis/fDPhMB8M/"]Alexis Mac Allister[/a] being involved in more games (62).[/p][h2]The most reliable Liverpool player[/h2][p]With 5,481 minutes played, the Dutchman has been the most active squad player, which, considering his advancing years, speaks volumes for his reliability and availability.[/p][p]He's also weighed in with eight goals, and only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gakpo-cody/pWyuBud0/"]Cody Gakpo[/a], Salah, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/szoboszlai-dominik/dERKtqoo/"]Dominik Szoboszlai[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ekitike-hugo/ltVXPlJU/"]Hugo Ekitike[/a] have scored more in the same time frame.[/p][image alt="Virgil van Dijk's recent career numbers" id="f1765c66-f7ac-49c7-9f29-547fe4271906" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="e4757881-2b4f-467b-959f-7d8e0c6bc31e" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]Of the 61 matches that he's played in, 19 of those have seen Liverpool keep a clean sheet, and no player has been part of a team that's stopped the opposition from scoring more often since the start of 25/26.[/p][p]Van Dijk's 272 headed clearances and 396 clearances more generally are well beyond anything that his teammates have managed, and although his 34 tackles attempted are less than half of some of his colleagues, the Dutchman has still posted a 61.76% success rate, which is one of the highest in the squad.[/p][p]He's also won possession back for Liverpool on 165 separate occasions, 77 of which were in the middle third of the pitch, evidencing how comfortable the centre-back is in other areas.[/p][p]A 71.53% one-on-one duel success rate is miles ahead of any of his teammates, with Van Dijk winning 299 of the 418 duels he's contested.[/p][p]His 323 aerial duels, of which 243 have been won, remain squad highs.[/p][image alt="Virgil van Dijk's pass map in the 2025/26 Premier League" id="1ceb5240-b7ab-4702-aac7-431591024451" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="e33842f0-4443-44c2-a305-e7aaf5d1a62c" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]In terms of passing accuracy, van Dijk is the only Liverpool player to have attempted more than 4,000 total passes (4,396), and with 3,926 of those finding their target, his 89.31% success rate is one of the highest recorded.[/p][p]One or two other colleagues have slightly higher success rates, albeit they've attempted around 2,000 fewer passes than their captain.[/p][h2]Age hasn't wearied him[/h2][p]Clearly, then, age hasn't wearied his competitive spirit, and whilst he may have lost a yard or two of pace, Van Dijk has shown that it's still perfectly possible to hit the heights in the modern game, despite not necessarily being blessed with speed.[/p][p]Given the evidence of the last 15 months or so, too, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/iraola-andoni/xpALVpwq/"]Andoni Iraola[/a] and the Liverpool board need to think long and hard before they allow the club captain to up sticks and move on to pastures new.[/p][p]The saying that 'you don't know what you've got until you lose it' could end up being perfectly applicable in this instance, with Los Blancos being the potential beneficiaries.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]