'I am so proud to be captain of this beautiful club that means so much to me'

Virgil van Dijk, whose Anfield future is unclear, opens up to Richard Jolly ahead of today’s Wembley final with Newcastle

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Two days after Virgil van Dijk and Wataru Endo finished a Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain, paired in the centre of the defence, they were together again. On Tuesday, their attention had been focused on Ousmane Dembele, whose prolific goalscoring return suggests he could be called a fox in the box. On Thursday, their eyes were on another fox and his supporting cast.

“One of my daughters had a play called Fantastic Mr Fox,” said Van Dijk. “So, my daughter was actually the mother of the fox, I think, and I remember the son of Wata was a rat. He did very well.” After that, it was time to help young Jadi van Dijk with her science project.

It was a glimpse into the normality of a distinctly abnormal figure, the colossus who emerged by stealth, the defender still at Groningen a few weeks before his 22nd birthday – who went on to finish runner-up in the Ballon d’Or, and who, at 33, remains one of the finest in the game. He is the £75m man who Liverpool risk losing on a free transfer – the captain who could soon belong in the pantheon of Anfield greats while adapting to life at a new club.

Van Dijk looks as unflappable when confronted by world-class forwards as he is by his uncertain future. When he looks forward to today’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, he can look back to last year’s showpiece against Chelsea.