The centre-back put pen to paper at Anfield on Friday morning and committed his future to the club.

Van Dijk has spent three-and-a-half years at the club, joining the side from Southampton in January 2018 for £75 million.

Asked how it felt to have inked the fresh terms, Van Dijk told Liverpoolfc.com: “Amazing. It is something to be very proud of, that I am very proud of, that my wife and my kids are very proud of and obviously my agency.

“All the hard work we’ve put in so far continues and I am looking forward to what the future brings together with Liverpool. I’m delighted, very happy and proud.”

Van Dijk has been an established figure in the side’s defence and has made 130 appearances for the club.

In that time, the defender has scored 13 times for Liverpool and has picked up winner’s medals in the Premier League, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Individually, he was voted the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, UEFA Men’s Player of the Year and UEFA Defender of the Season for 2018-19, while he finished second in the 2019 Ballon d’Or and The Best FIFA Men’s Player in 2019.

“Since day one when I joined the club, I felt so much appreciation from the fans and from my teammates and the staff, that I could be a very important member of this football club,” Van Dijk continued.

“It has been going well; unfortunately last season for me personally has been a season to forget, to learn from and take with me, but I have enjoyed my time here and will keep enjoying it in the next couple of years altogether with all of you.”

Van Dijk is currently working his way back to full fitness after knee surgery last October curtailed his 2020-21 season prematurely.

The 30-year-old heads into the new campaign – which begins on Saturday for the Reds at Norwich City – with a full pre-season under his belt and three friendly runouts.

Van Dijk said: “I feel good. Obviously [they were] friendlies, you get your match fitness up, get into repetitions of doing things again and again.

“I feel like I am ready for the weekend, so we’ll see what the manager decides. It is going to be a totally different atmosphere and mindset for me personally as well. It is something we fight for, for the points, and hopefully we can get a positive result out of it.”

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Bayern Munich have had an incredible year. Between winning the UEFA Champions League, German Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, they could hardly have done much better.

They were given the chance to further add to their trophy cabinet this evening as they took on Mexican side Tigres in the Club World Cup final, which was last won by Liverpool.

It was Tigres’ first appearance in the final of the Club World Cup. In fact, they were the first Mexican side to ever reach that stage.

Tigres beat South Korean side Ulsan and Brazilian giants Palmeiras on their way to the final while Bayern defeated Egyptian side Al Ahly SC in the semi-final.

As many would have expected, Bayern Munich scored the opening goal.

However, their celebrations wouldn’t last long.

Joshua Kimmich, who has been excellent for Bayern in recent times, struck from outside the area and his effort found the bottom corner. However, upon further review the goal was controversially ruled out as Robert Lewandowski was adjudged to be obstructing the view of the Tigres ‘keeper.

Tigres were likely the happier side going into the break as the first half ended scoreless.

Bayern were unusually quiet in their attacking output, finding it hard to penetrate the Tigres backline. Hansi Flick needed a much better second half performance from his side.

Bayern started the second similar to how they played in the first in that they lacked their usual attacking threat.

However, after a period of inactivity from both teams, Bayern found the net in the 59^th minute.

Robert Lewandowski was initially played in from a good cross and his header was saved by the keeper. Benjamin Pavard was in the right position to pounce on the rebound, though, as he slotted into the back of the net.

The goal was initially disallowed for offside but VAR came to the rescue of Bayern this time. After a period of deliberation between the officials, the ruling was overturned and the goal stood.

Bayern had a number of chances to add to the scoreline thereafter but were unable to find the back of the net again.

The match finished 1-0.

Despite a respectable performance from Tigres, the German champions proved their quality in the end as they won their 2^nd FIFA Club World Cup.

— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) February 11, 2021

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