Virgil van Dijk has admitted he has some tough thinking to do after the Netherlands’ Euro 2024 semi-final defeat to England.
Since joining Liverpool in 2018, Van Dijk has become one of the best defenders in Premier League history, with the Dutchman playing a pivotal role in Liverpool’s success in recent years. The 33-year-old took over as Reds captain following Jordan Henderson’s departure last summer, but with just one year left on his contract at the club, the defender could be set for an exit soon.
After his country’s tough-to-take exit from Euro 2024, Van Dijk said: “I will think carefully this summer about what I want at club level and as an international.” So, if the centre-back was to leave Liverpool this summer, what could happen next season? Let’s take a look…
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Liverpool’s 2024/25 season without Virgil van Dijk
To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2024 to transfer list Virgil van Dijk, with the defender making a £37million move to Paris Saint-Germain. We then made a new defender a priority signing for the Reds, with Arne Slot’s side signing Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni as Van Dijk’s replacement.
In his first season with the club, Slot opted to keep Sepp van den Berg at the club, with the Reds heading into the 2024/25 campaign with five centre-backs in the simulation. At the end of the season, Ibrahima Konate and Bastoni were the two centre-backs used the most, making 51 and 48 appearances, respectively.
Konate managed to stay fit all season, ending the season as Liverpool’s best defender with an average rating of 7.14 per game. Jarell Quansah was the next best (7.1), with Bastoni only averaging the fourth-best rating (7.01), despite being selected over Quansah regularly.
At the end of the 2024/25 season, Football Manager 24 put together an overall best Liverpool XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Liverpool best XI: (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Bastoni, Robertson; Endo, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Salah, Jota, Nunez.
Konate and Bastoni were the defensive partnership of choice to make the best XI, which was expected after the two made so many appearances together. Wataru Endo made the best XI in the midfield three with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, while Darwin Nunez started ahead of Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz on the left as Diogo Jota started up front.
Van Dijk’s absence is a big one on paper, and with Liverpool struggling massively when he was injured during the 2020/21 season, the cause for concern was understandable. But the Reds didn’t suffer badly without their captain, with Slot’s side finishing second in the Premier League during the simulation.
26 wins, four draws, and eight defeats saw Liverpool end the campaign on 82 points – the same as Arsenal in third, but with a better goal difference. Manchester City eased their way to another Premier League title as they tallied 95 points, but without Van Dijk, Slot’s side ended the season with the second-best defensive record, concerning just 32 goals in the league.
Van Dijk was Liverpool’s hero in the Carabao Cup final win last season, so maybe the defender’s presence was missed in the simulation as the Reds lost 3-1 to Arsenal in the 2024/25 final. There was no trophy luck in the Champions League of FA Cup either, with the Reds losing 4-2 to Real Madrid in the Round of 16 before losing 2-1 to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Overall, FM24 predicts that if Liverpool could sign the right replacement, Van Dijk may not be massively missed in the 2024/25 season. Saying that one more season with their captain could potentially prove more valuable than an extra bit of money, with Slot likely interested in having the Dutchman at the back for at least his first season in charge.