NewsVirgil van Dijk explains message to new Liverpool signings
Virgil van Dijk has explained the message he has been giving to Liverpool’s new signings – including latest arrival Hugo Ekitike.
A day after his transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt was confirmed, Ekitike arrived in Hong Kong to join up with his Reds teammates and immediately attended their open training session on Thursday.
The Frenchman has followed six other new members of the squad through the door at Anfield this summer, and Van Dijk is pleased with how they are settling in.
But he underscored the amount of hard work still ahead for all concerned.
“Coming to Liverpool, they will definitely have the quality to play for Liverpool,” the captain told The Anfield Wrap. “For me, it’s very important as well how you settle in the group and how you fit into the squad that we have.
“And I think they did [so] perfectly well. All of them.
“We don’t speak about Armin [Pecsi], a young goalie who just came in, has settled in pretty well. Obviously Freddie [Woodman], Giorgi [Mamardashvili], Flo [Florian Wirtz], Jeremie [Frimpong] [and Milos Kerkez].
“Hugo came today of course.
“Everyone has to work hard and we’re all in this together, that’s the main thing. We have to fight for everything that’s ahead of us.”
On Ekitike specifically, who moves to the Premier League champions off the back of a campaign with Eintracht in which he scored 22 goals and gave 12 assists, Van Dijk said: “It’s good to have him here.
“I said to him, ‘The hard work starts now.’ He has to work his socks off and be important for us whenever he can. That’s the main thing.”