Jurrien Timber, Donyell Malen respond to Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk's message

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Arsenal and Aston Villa rivals reacted to Virgil van Dijk after the Liverpool star sent a message via social media following international break drama.

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side battled to a 2-2 draw with Spain, and are fighting for a spot in the semi-finals of the Nations League, hoping to set up a clash against either France or Croatia and looked to be taking important steps on Thursday 20 March.

Despite Nico Williams’ early opener after just nine minutes, goals from club teammate Cody Gakpo and Tijjani Reijnders flipped the script at De Kuip, that was until Jorrel Hato’s red card.

With just seconds left on the clock, Arsenal’s Mikel Merino scored an all-important equaliser to undo all of van Dijk’s side’s hard work before facing Spain in a second leg on Sunday 23 March.

Arsenal and Liverpool battle on international stage

Taking to Instagram [21 March], Van Dijk posted images of himself throughout the Nations League clash, simply captioned with the Netherlands flag, but it was enough to catch the attention of several players.

Teammates Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Wataru Endo all liked the post, as did Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke, and Man United’s Matthijs de Ligt, but others commented too.

Arsenal star Jurrien Timber replied with a heart emoji while Aston Villa’s Donyell Malen left heart and muscle emojis on the update following a four-goal thriller in the Netherlands.

Virgil van Dijk still yet to announce new Liverpool contract

Football Insider verdict

With still no sign of a new contract for the 33-year-old defender, Football Insider understands that Bayern Munich have opened preliminary talks with van Dijk ahead of the summer.

Arne Slot would be absolutely distraught to lose one of his best players, and Mohamed Salah’s situation at Liverpool is also causing radio silence from Anfield.

The Reds will likely experience a summer of drastic change, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Ibrahima Konate all being linked with exits at the end of the season.

It could have been a much sweeter end to Slot’s first season in England, but after being knocked out of the Champions League and losing the EFL Cup final, some fans are disappointed with just the Premier League title.

While that is somewhat understandable, the early signs have been extremely promising, and if the club can figure out a way to keep most of the rising stars this summer, it should be an exciting few years.

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