“I advised Van Dijk”: Dejan Lovren on the advice that he has given Virgil van Dijk | OneFootball

Former Red Dejan Lovren has opened up on the conversation that he has recently had with Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

During the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, which took place back in October 2020, Van Dijk suffered a serious knee injury. The Dutchman has not played since.

Lovren said that he spoke with Van Dijk about the injury. Lovren added that he has advised Van Dijk to not speed up his recovery.

Lovren told Sport Express: “We talked about his recovery, about the knee. You know that Virgil has a serious injury – the cruciate ligaments are damaged. Moreover, when this happened, at first he did not even feel anything: he starts to walk – everything is fine, and after a few steps it gets worse and worse.

“But I hope he will be back in service soon. I advised van Dijk not to speed up the recovery for Euro 2020. If the risk of relapse persists, it is best to wait. Virgil is young for a center-back, only 29 years old. There will still be major tournaments in his career.”

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ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

We completely agree with Lovren. It would be good for Liverpool if Van Dijk did miss the Euros this year.

If Van Dijk does not play, he will be putting more time into his recovery, which means that he should be ready to go for the 2021-22 Premier League season.

The last thing we want is for Van Dijk to return too early and cause more damage to his knee.

Van Dijk has recently posted footage of himself on the exercise bike, which suggests that his recovery is coming along nicely.