An emotional Virgil van Dijk was lost for words as he spoke about Jurgen Klopp in post-match interview

An emotional Virgil van Dijk was in tears as he opened up about a “tough” embrace with Jurgen Klopp following his final game as Liverpool manager.

The 32-year-old defender, who became the world’s most expensive defender when he joined Liverpool in 2017, has been a revelation under Klopp.

He’s lifted the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and Club World Cup alongside his manager. But that seven-year relationship came to an end on Sunday afternoon when the German manager watched his team secure a 2-0 win over Wolves.

After the full-time whistle, an emotional Van Dijk was in tears as he embraced Klopp in the centre circle.

It was a moment that summed up how much he means to his players and moments later, the Dutch defender tried his best to speak about what happened. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s clash, Klopp described the past few days as “the most intense” of his life.

“We don’t have to pretend it’s a normal week because it isn’t,” he said. “I’m a very pragmatic person. This is the last game of the season and after that, it’s a holiday.

“Yesterday [Thursday], the players said goodbye. We had a barbecue here. It’s a lot. I have emotional moments of course. I don’t know how many shirts I signed! It’s all part of the thing.

“Saying goodbye is never nice but saying goodbye without feeling sad or hurt, that would have meant the time was not good. The time was great. It will be tough.”

As well as saying farewell to his players at the barbecue, Klopp mentioned Van Dijk and how he did an “incredible” job when speaking about him on behalf of the group.

“I know myself, I am super-emotional,” the German added. “In a little moment, I was super-emotional this week. On Thursday, the players did an incredibly nice thing speaking about me and other members of staff who are leaving, Virgil did incredible. I only had to make a joke here and there.

“If I had started to say what I think, I would have been gone (emotionally). I knew it. Nobody will remember what I said yesterday, it was just to protect myself. Sunday will obviously have to be the right things.”