With star defender Virgil van Dijk having been ruled out for the majority of the season, Jurgen Klopp will surely be keen to have him back as soon as possible.

That is completely understandable considering the Dutchman’s immense influence at Anfield and the dramatic way in which the Reds have collapsed without him in the side this season.

With van Dijk taking “another step closer” towards being fully recovered, there was fleeting hope that he may be able to take part in the closing months of the season, but bringing him back far too soon could destroy Liverpool’s season and future campaigns even more.

According to orthopaedic surgeon Bas Pijnenburg, it would be a “considerable risk” for Van Dijk to return in any capacity this season.

Should he suffer another recurrence of the injury or indeed another problem, this would once again rule out Liverpool’s best centre-back, possibly for an even greater period of time.

Since signing for the Reds from Southampton in 2017, van Dijk has played 130 games, winning 92. This gives him a hugely impressive 70% win percentage when appearing. However, without the Dutchman, this drops sharply to just 52%.

Whilst the club will not want that poor record to continue this season by any stretch of the imagination, Klopp will simply not want this drop off in form to spill into next season at any cost should Van Dijk be ruled out again.

With just the UEFA Champions League left for the Merseysiders to feasibly win during the current campaign, it surely makes no sense to rush Van Dijk back and risk yet more damage.

After all, should he get injured once more then Liverpool will be back to where they started, putting unnecessary strain on an already threadbare position within their squad.

Despite Van Dijk being labelled as “unbelievable” by Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson, it is best for the £180k per week defender to be kept under wraps until next season.

AND in more news, read which relegation-threatened star could be the perfect replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum at Anfield...