19th October, 2020
Liverpool’s centre-back Virgil van Dijk said he is focused on returning to fitness as quickly as possible, after his knee surgery.
He spoke after it was confirmed that he requires the surgery.\
The Reds’ No.4 sustained a knee injury during the early stages of Saturday’s 2-2 Merseyside derby draw at Goodison Park.
Further assessment of his knee ligaments revealed that an operation will be needed.
He sustained the injury following an incident involving Blues goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after six minutes at Goodison Park.
No specific timescale is being placed upon his return to action at this stage.
Following surgery, Van Dijk will begin a rehabilitation programme with the club’s medical team to enable him to reach full fitness as soon as possible.
Van Dijk was calm about his sidelining.
He posted the following message on social media on Sunday evening:
This afternoon I met with a leading consultant to start the process of planning the finer details of my rehabilitation following the incident yesterday. I’m now fully focused on my recovery and will do everything I can to be back as quickly as possible.
Despite the obvious disappointment, I’m a firm believer that within difficulty lies opportunity and with God’s help I’m going to make sure I return better, fitter and stronger than ever before.
In football, as in life, I believe everything happens for a reason and it’s important to try and keep level-headed whether going through the highs or the lows. With the support of my wife, kids, family and everyone at Liverpool, I’m ready for the challenge ahead.
I’d like to thank everyone for the messages of support, it’s meant a huge amount to me and my family, and I’ll now be doing everything possible to support my teammates in any way I can ahead of a big few weeks ahead as I take my own recovery day by day. I’ll be back.
Virgil van Dijk