Real Madrid rocked as Liverpool hatch plan to stop Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold transfer repeat
Real Madrid’s hopes of signing Virgil van Dijk on a free transfer next summer have been dealt a blow, with a journalist claiming that Liverpool could offer the Netherlands international central defender a new contract.
Van Dijk is out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the season.
The Dutchman has been on the books of the Merseyside club since 2018, when he joined from Southampton.
The 35-year-old central defender has been a huge success at Liverpool and is a modern-day legend at the Premier League club.
On September 29, Mundo Deportivo reported that Real Madrid are planning to sign Van Dijk as a free agent next summer.
French centre-back Ibrahima Konate left Liverpool to move to Real Madrid on a free transfer in the summer of 2026.
Back in the summer of 2025, Madrid signed right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool.
While Van Dijk is still a very good defender, he is 35 now, and even as a free agent, he would be an expensive signing given his salary.
According to journalist Dean Jones in FlashScore on October 2, Van Dijk earns around £350,000 per week at Liverpool.
Dean Huijsen, Konate, Raul Asencio, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger are the five recognised centre-back options for Madrid manager Jose Mourinho at the moment.
It has now emerged that Madrid’s plan to sign Van Dijk on a free transfer could go up in smoke, with transfer journalist Pete O’Rourke reporting in Football Insider that the defender could sign a new contract with Liverpool.
Van Dijk has reportedly won over Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola, who was appointed in the role in the summer of 2026.
Iraola reportedly still views Van Dijk ‘as a crucial part of his first-team plans for the season’, with Liverpool ‘open to extending’ his contract.
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Liverpool could hand Virgil van Dijk a new deal
O’Rourke said on the Transfer Insider podcast: “A lot depends on what happens with Van Dijk’s contract situation.
“He still has a role to play for Liverpool.
“He’s still playing every week and he is the club captain as well, so I think Van Dijk is probably the master of his own destiny here.
“If he continues to perform well for Liverpool there’s every chance that he could get a new deal and they could look to keep him at the club.
“There is still a long way to go on this one.
“I think if he continues to perform at a high level, then Liverpool will want to sit down and discuss his plans going forward.
“But as I said, he’s the master of his own destiny, and the fact that he will be a free agent in the summer if there’s no new deal on the tail from Liverpool means he can probably have his pick of where he wants to continue his career.”
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