The defender has spoken out about his future in the sport.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has offered some insight into his future in football amid conversations about extending his contract with the club.

Since joining Liverpool from Southampton in December 2017, Van Dijk as undoubtedly established himself as one of the best defenders to ever play in the Premier League.

Negotiations to extend the defender’s contract with the Merseyside club are ongoing, with his current deal set to expire in the summer.

And now, the 33-year-old has dropped a massive hint about his plans for the future in a new interview.

While speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, he refused to rule out the possibility of becoming a manager after his playing days were over.

“I said no, but that’s also because coming to this hectic, busy, on-it life that my family is sacrificing a lot, my wife and my kid,” Van Dijk told Ferdinand.

“To then have a year off or two years off and then going back into it… I don’t think I see it happening, but never say never.”

“I really feel like I definitely will give something back to football,” he added.

“I love working and seeing younger players out there. I like going, for example, to the Liverpool Academy to watch the [age-group sides].”

Virgil van Dijk has spent seven years with Liverpool. (Image: Getty)

The Dutchman confirmed that he had no plans to go into football punditry, but further spoke about the appeal of becoming a coach to help develop young players.

“I know, because the thing is, when I was younger, I was eight or nine, and we had a training session and the first-team players from my team back then, Willem II, two or three players came and trained with us, and I’ll never forget that,” Van Dijk continued.

“I know what kind of impact it makes to the younger boys and the younger generation, but what they give to me as well, seeing them happy and playing with pure joy… that’s something that brings a lot to me as well.

“That’s going back to the question, I would love to stay in football in the future, but at my time, I don’t know which kind of role, and it’s too far away to think about it.”