Van Dijk urges Liverpool to take upcoming transfer window rebuild seriously

Virgil Van Dijk has highlighted Liverpool’s need for a successful summer transfer window if they want to remain part of Europe’s elite.

Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday, with the 6-2 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid their heaviest beating over two legs since Spartak Moscow hammered them by the same in the 1992 European Cup Winners Cup.

Madrid were a class above and the directions in which both teams have travelled since meeting in the Champions League final last May was stark. Liverpool need quality reinforcements but the pressure is on the current group to preserve their top four place.

Jude Bellingham is the number one target but other midfielders will be required to come in; Liverpool have funds in place and Jurgen Klopp will be backed by owners Fenway Sports Group. The kitty would be supplemented by any player sales and if the club secured investment.

Van Dijk would welcome an injection of new faces into the squad but he knows the onus is on him and his team-mates to put together a sustained run of good form to make sure they are an attractive proposition for targets.

‘Players are going to leave – that’s been announced so we have to (invest), if we want to be where we have been the last five years,’ said Van Dijk. ‘We need quality imports especially with those players leaving. I think that’s quite obvious.

‘But everyone knows that’s going to be very difficult to find the right players but the club has to do their job in this case. We still have a lot of games to play for us and we want to be in the Champions League. That will also help to attract the best players in the world. Not all the time but it will help.’

Klopp knows Liverpool will face a defining week immediately after the international break, with fixtures against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, and the concern is whether they have it within to put together a run of consistently positive results.

‘It’s going to be very defining and that’s something we all know,’ said Van Dijk. ‘It’s been a season that we can’t find the consistency that we have had for the last few years but the only way to get it back, is to get it back with each and every game.

‘It sounds very simple but it’s the most difficult part of football and the most difficult part of being a footballer is to stay consistent in each and every game. We will give it absolutely everything because I want to play in the Champions League, we all want to play in the Champions League.

‘The fans want to play in the Champions League. We are the players, we have to perform and we have to show it but we need also our fans. They have stuck with us in the good times and we need them probably even more in this time. We will fight and we will see good results also.’

Liverpool suffered another blow yesterday when Stefan Bajcetic was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with an adductor issue. The young Spaniard has been a revelation since the turn of the year but he is now undergoing treatment to ensure he is ready for pre-season.