Virgil van Dijk admits ‘cruel’ world of football has ended his desire to become manager or pundit when he hangs up his boots… and Liverpool defender will instead look at using his ‘good eye for talent’ in a scouting role
- Van Dijk planned to be a manager after retiring but is rethinking his future
- The centre-back says he doesn’t want to be the subject of negative criticism
- Instead, Van Dijk believes he would be well suited to a scouting role
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk says the ‘cruel’ world of football has ended his desire to become a manager when he hangs up his boots.
Van Dijk’s leadership qualities were a key reason behind Liverpool’s Champions League success last season and saw him named PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
The centre-back has previously spoken of his plans to move into management in the future but the critical nature of the modern game has changed his mind.
Van Dijk says he is no longer interested in pursuing a career in management when he retires
The centre-back revealed he doesn’t want the criticism that comes with management
Van Dijk’s leadership qualities helped Liverpool to win the Champions League last season
Instead, Van Dijk, 28, believes he could be better suited to unearthing the game’s next generation of talent, while ruling out a move into punditry.
‘The world can be very cruel… there are a lot of people that have opinions and that can affect you – if you have the choice you’d rather not be in those kind of situations,’ he told Optus Sport.
‘But I think I will definitely be involved in football. I won’t be a pundit because you have to be saying certain things that you might not even want to, but you have to.
‘We’ll see, I think I have a good eye for spotting talent so maybe I’ll do something like that.’