Virgil van Dijk Wants to Become a 'Legend at Liverpool,' Talks Retirement Plans

Virgil van Dijk recently celebrated the anniversary of his arrival at Anfield and says he wants to leave as a "legend at Liverpool," adding he'd be open to retiring to a quieter life when his playing days are done. 

The most expensive defender in football is the toast of the Premier League but has major club goals in mind. Van Dijk sat down with Guillem Balague in an interview for BBC 5 Live's Football Daily podcast and discussed how he wants to be remembered (h/t BBC Sport):

"As a legend of Liverpool. I want to achieve amazing things here. We have a fantastic squad, we have everything, we have all the tools.

"They went all out to get me, and I want to give everything for them. Before I started training [with the club], I went to the game against Leicester [in December 2017]. I was in the boardroom and met so many legends, great players who played for a beautiful club.

"When you play for this club, you'll always be welcome as you've been part of the family. It's one of the reasons I definitely wanted to play for the club."

Van Dijk moved to Anfield from Southampton in January 2018 for £75 million, a sum that's proving to be worth every penny, as Liverpool sit level on points with Premier League leaders Manchester City (with a game in hand).

The defender has previously spoken of the significance that comes with playing for a team as illustrious as Liverpool, per Anfield HQ:

He's following in the footsteps of other Liverpool greats but would etch his own place in history if he led the Reds to a top-flight title in 2019, 29 years since they last won a First Division crown.

Liverpool managed to not concede at home to Bayern Munich in their UEFA Champions League last-16 clash on Tuesday, drawing 0-0 without the suspended Van Dijk. But that result bucked the recent trend when without their defensive gem:

Van Dijk spoke about the building blocks put in place before his move to Merseyside, which followed after he missed the first half of 2017 because of an ankle injury. Liverpool fans approached him at the 2017 Champions League final in Cardiff, something he called "a great gesture" from his future supporters.

The Netherlands international has quickly grown to become a crucial piece of the puzzle under Jurgen Klopp and fulfilled his own prediction that he would be a good fit under the German tactician:

Van Dijk explained he may never have become a centre-back if not for a growth spurt at Willem II, whose academy he represented before joining Groningen, Celtic, Southampton and then Liverpool.

The defender also said he would like to return to his native Netherlands when he retires.

Van Dijk reiterated his preference is to be private and suggested the growing influence of social media is "sad to see—it's a fake life that some people live."

He added: "When we win, everything is fantastic and maybe you are the best centre-back in the world and people are talking about that. But if you lose or concede, then you're the worst centre-back in the world. That's the life we live."

Positivity is important to Van Dijk, who revealed he loves Disney movies and first visited Disneyland when he was "about seven or eight" and now loves to take his children and partner. "Life is too short to be negative," he said.

Downtime is inevitable when playing at the elite level of football, however, and Van Dijk counted Prison Break and Game of Thrones among his favourite television shows:

"I'm a big TV show guy. I'm a big fan of Prison Break—I've watched it eight times.

"I remember starting Game of Thrones, everyone said 'you have to watch it,' but I thought 'it's science fiction, it's not real, it's nothing.' I gave it a go and then couldn't stop watching it.

"In the first season they *redacted for people who have not watched the first season* and I was like 'woah'. After that it's crazy. You see things you can't expect. It makes it a great show."

Van Dijk missed Tuesday's stalemate against Bayern through suspension but will be back in the side that travels to face Manchester United on Sunday, with hopes of pushing Liverpool three points clear at the summit.