Virgil van Dijk: We’re Going To Work Our Socks Off

Quite a few Reds are still on their vacations following their international obligations this summer, if they’re not still participating in the World Cup, but two lovely faces have made their return to Melwood. Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum both brought their smiles back to training on Sunday to get up to speed for the upcoming preseason matches.

“Like I said when I arrived, I want to achieve everything possible with this beautiful club,” van Dijk said to the club website following his first training session.

“We’re going to work our socks off and do everything possible to make it happen this season. We were very close to silverware but obviously not close enough.

“I can improve in any aspect of the game. At the moment, it’s getting back to full fitness, making sure I’m getting better and stronger than I was before. I will work every day and do everything possible and no doubt it will happen.”

A year after Liverpool claimed to end their interest in signing the defender - only to sign him over the January window - it’s a relief to see the defender still on the squad. He and Wijnaldum both returned after an extended vacation following their Dutch international duties, so that means all eyes are on the meeting with Bury as their first outing.

“If everything goes well, hopefully next weekend I’ll get my first minutes of the season. We’ll see,” said the defender.

“I’m just happy to be back and now we can get back to work. We have great games coming up and we’re going to work very hard. I’m looking forward to it.”

All of this on Virgil’s 27th birthday too! Even with a job like his, returning to work after vacation on your birthday is probably not gonna be high up on anyone’s list of favorite things, but van Dijk took it in stride.

“The presents were all the tests I needed to do today! It’s a bit strange to do all these things on your birthday but you can’t really complain,” said van Dijk.

“When anyone has a birthday everybody has to sing in their own language. It was nice, it was good to see and enjoy.”