Virgil van Dijk has indicated he will share his opinion on Manchester City's guilty verdict after their appeals process has been heard by the Premier League's independent commission. The Liverpool captain has revealed he has even privately spoken to some City players about the ruling, which was made public last month, but says it would be unwise to comment at this stage.
City Found Guilty on 114 Charges
It was confirmed on September 29 that City had been found guilty of setting up "sham" contracts that allowed them to artificially inflate their commercial revenue by nearly £900m between 2009 and 2018. Of the 115 Premier League charges, City were found guilty on 114 and have since appealed, which means a 12-week process will now see the case looked at by a new three-person panel.
The case has been widely viewed as one of the biggest scandals in British sporting history. City's off-the-field actions enabled them to later build up a team under Pep Guardiola that saw them beat Jurgen Klopp's Reds to the Premier League title in 2019 and 2022, by a single point on both occasions. Liverpool also finished third in 2024 as City won their fourth league title in a row.
Van Dijk's Comments on the Verdict
Van Dijk, who has been at Anfield since January 2018, hinted he has a particular view on the outcome but is reserving making that opinion public right now, in an interview given shortly after the 3-0 defeat to City on Sunday afternoon.
"It's still a little bit ongoing so I don't think it's smart for me to comment on it right now," Van Dijk said. "But when the verdict comes out I will definitely have my opinion and I will probably share it as well. But for now I don't think it's a smart thing to do. I've been in Holland (on international duty). I've been also with some Man City players and we spoke about it but what can you do? We have to wait and see. You want me to say some things I don't want to say at this moment in time. I don't think it's very good to do that."
"I think everyone could hear [the Anfield chants of cheats]. Everyone can share their feelings and I don't think Anfield will be the only place where it will be the case because fans will have their feelings but for players I don't think it is a good idea at this moment in time. Does the news change how I viewed that period? No, because I really enjoyed our rivalry and it was a great rivalry on the pitch. What happened off the pitch that is for others to find a conclusion on and then lets see."
Liverpool's 3-0 Defeat to City
Liverpool were undone by Enzo Maresca's league leaders after Ryan Gravenberch was controversially sent off shortly after the hour mark. Within six minutes of the Dutch midfielder being dismissed by referee Chris Kavanagh for two bookable offences, Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku had given Maresca's men the advantage. Rayan Cherki later added a third as Andoni Iraola suffered his first loss as Liverpool boss.
"I think it was an even game up until the red card," Van Dijk added. "The early goal after the red card changed the whole game, that's just the fact. Was it a red? That's for others [to decide]. I don't even know how the first yellow card was but after the first minute when Araujo got a yellow card for asking for a yellow card there were so many other players from the other team asking for a red card. That's just that, we can't use it as an excuse. We went down to 10 men and conceded pretty quickly after that and then it's a very tough one."
"Losing 3-0. Against Man City. At home. The first half we can say we deserved a bit more than that but the fact is we lost it 3-0 today and we have to quickly turn this frustration and disappointment back to full focus. The Champions League away at LASK people might think is an easy one – it isn't. We have to focus quickly, recover and be back on it."
"We play for Liverpool so we have the expectation we have to win every game. It has not been spoken about to use as extra motivation in the situation as you play a big game at home against the league leaders and everyone was up for it. We struggled a little bit with some injuries at the moment and I think in the first half we showed a lot of fight and intensity – the bare minimum by the way. There was a lot of good things in the first half but the fact is we lost it 3-0 and that hurts."
Van Dijk on Rest and Fitness
Van Dijk, who is into the final year of his Liverpool contract at the age of 35, also fielded the prospect of being rested more this term by Iraola in an attempt to prolong his career. Liverpool play eight games between October 14 and November 8 but the long-serving centre-back insists he will be ready whenever he is called upon by Iraola as a critical period of the season now awaits across three competitions.
Van Dijk said: "Do you think I want a rest? Everyone knows that everyone has to be ready and then we know 20 minutes before we go to Anfield we know the team. Obviously it's not a given I'm starting but I'm doing everything in my power to be ready. I had a little knock in the end on my calf which is pretty painful so I'm going home to get some treatment to be ready for Wednesday. If I'm fit and ready to play I want to play. But at the end of the day it is the manager's decision and we need everyone. The manager decides: if I play I play, if I don't I don't and that's just it. I have to make sure like every other player in the team I have to be ready for the game in front of us. Of course, I'm disappointed, I don't like losing whatsoever, especially at home, but I know in three days everyone expects us to perform again so we have to be ready and that's the responsibility we have."
