Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has signed a contract extension putting an end to speculation over whether this season would be his last at Anfield.

Normally, though, he is the master of laidback defending. Watching him, it is tempting to recall the phrase Bill Shankly used to introduce Ron Yeats, an earlier generation of Liverpool captain, to the media. “Take a walk around my centre-half, gentlemen, he’s a colossus,” he said.