Liverpool turns its form around, with Virgil van Dijk addressing Wayne Rooney’s criticism, while transfer talks swirl around Florian Wirtz and potential defensive target Nico Schlotterbeck ahead of the Manchester City clash.
The mood surrounding Anfield has drastically improved following impressive victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, yet a war of words between captain Virgil van Dijk and football legend Wayne Rooney has dominated the headlines, according to a Daily Star report.
The dispute centered on Rooney’s suggestion that Liverpool’s earlier poor form was due to insufficient leadership from Van Dijk.
The Dutch centre-back publicly hit back at the comments, dismissing Rooney’s perspective as “ridiculous.”
Van Dijk stated: “Just to come back to this particular player, obviously a legend, a big player of the game who inspired so many, I can say only positive things, but I feel that comment is just a bit of a lazy criticism.”
He added: “It’s easy to blame the older players but he knows as well as everyone else that we do it together and try to help each other to get out of this.”
Surprisingly, Van Dijk found support from Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand, who praised the defender’s outspoken nature. Ferdinand said:
“I absolutely love that Virgil van Dijk, the captain of Liverpool, is coming out and saying, ‘I ain’t having what people are saying, I don’t agree with that and I don’t agree with that’. I think it’s brilliant.”
The pair later confronted each other during post-match coverage, where Rooney conceded the point. “I am not saying anything any more because I think I spurred them on and put them on a winning streak!” Rooney admitted.
In transfer news, a bombshell dropped regarding summer signing Florian Wirtz. Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro claimed that the £116m record signing would have “definitely have gone to Madrid if Xabi had made the offer,” suggesting the player’s affinity for former boss Xabi Alonso nearly derailed the move to Liverpool.
Meanwhile, ex-Red Dietmar Hamann urged the club to sign Borussia Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck, describing the German as an “outstanding” natural leader who could eventually succeed Van Dijk.