Arne Slot says he would love that Virgil Van Dijk stays and continues to play for Liverpool next season after the captain admitted this week that he had no idea what the future holds.
The Dutch defender was pushed to his Liverpool agreement, which expires at the end of this season, and insisted that his short -term future was not yet clear.
And when they are pressed today, manager Slot said: 'I don't know what is happening next season too … in terms of results. But that's not what you mean …
'All I know is that I want Virgil to be here next season. Everything else, these conversations about contracts, that is not what I do here '.
Slot added that uncertainty does not impact planning for the next season.
Liverpool travels to London on Saturday before his final appointment of the Copao Cup with Newcastle in Wembley on Sunday, and Slot will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold. Mail Sport reported earlier this week how the right expects to play again this season.
Liverpool's captain, Virgil Van Dijk, admitted this week that he had no idea what the future holds
Arne Slot has emphasized that 'I would love' having Van Dijk at the club next season
The manager said that Jarell Quanseah is more than capable of delegating to the ViceCapitan with Conor Bradley and Joe Gómez who suffer injuries in the hamstrings.
Quansah has had a difficult season after an advance campaign last year, but Slot praised his attitude and effort.
“He says a lot about his mentality,” said the manager. 'So last season they saw the talent that is.
'And then this season began with him starting and changed him against Ipswich. Then Ibou (Konate) and Virgil were and are a combination so strong that he did not play much. But every time I had to play, everyone could see what maybe it is no longer a talent.
'Because as talent you have no setback. When you get setbacks, it's about how you react and he has demonstrated in his recent actions that he has overcome the so -called talent and that is probably what Thomas Tuchel saw when he called England.
'He did very well the last times he had to play for us, even in a position he is not completely accustomed to his right back, but, in my opinion, he also has the qualities to play in that position.
“It is strong, fast, very comfortable with the ball and gives us an additional quality if we played it, what we saw, in terms of fixing pieces because he was the one who was so far (measures inches with his fingers) of us qualifying for the next round directing the ball against the post.
Slot has backed Jarell Quanseah to delegate to Liverpool in the Copao Cup final
'If being replaced in part time is a setback, almost all players have more than a few setbacks during their career. It was more than people looked a bit like “oooh” about what I said after the game in which they were not accustomed to a manager or that I was so clear about what I saw.
'In the end, that was probably a situation in which he was criticized more than normal for a player who was retired in part. It is so good to see that he went back to him. As for the mentality, it could have been a great moment for him, that Ipswich game.
“Now he has experienced that people were not only positive about him like last season, although he also made one or two mistakes, he also knows that he can now fight if people are, suddenly, no longer positive.”