'The club has to do their job': Van Dijk urges Liverpool to get new players

"Obviously, players are going to leave. That’s been announced so if we want to be where we have been the last five years, we need quality imports, especially with those players leaving," Virgil van Dijk told The Athletic after the Real Madrid defeat.

"Everyone knows that’s going to be very difficult. It is going to be very difficult to find the right players but the club has to do their job in this case.

"We still have a lot of games to play and we want to be in the Champions League. I think that will also help to attract the best players in the world. Not all the time but it will definitely help."

Jurgen Klopp has also publicly claimed that this summer will be the time for big changes in the Liverpool squad. Roberto Firmino has already decided to leave, with Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain highly likely to follow.

Qualifying for the Champions League would help their transfer plans in more than one respect, including the financial one. So far, however, it's far from a done deal.