Virgil van Dijk's long-term Liverpool future remains up in the air as the Reds gear up for the run-in. But whatever happens, his legacy is undoubtedly already secure, with an Anfield legend admitting that only one other defender in the club's history can measure up.

By the end of the month, Van Dijk could have just 11 Premier League games left for Liverpool, along with both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah. All being well, he could also be on the verge of a second title.

And the next test is one of the biggest. He returns for the last time to Goodison Park, the place where he was lucky to escape with any kind of elite career intact after a horror challenge from Jordan Pickford.

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Admittedly, if the shoe was on the other foot, I might be sick of the incident being brought up by now. It was, after all, more than four years ago.

But while the dislike for Pickford lingers, along with a deeply-ingrained mistrust for VAR and the people who man it (offside doesn't preclude violent conduct...), the main reason I mention it is that it serves to underscore just how impressive Van Dijk is. Not many 33-year-olds can make such a compelling case for a new deal at the highest level of the sport, and even fewer can do so having spent their 30th birthday in the final stages of a comeback from an ACL injury.

It took some time for him to get back up to speed, but Van Dijk has reached something pretty close to pre-injury levels, regaining his reputation as perhaps the best center-back around. He has been the common thread in formidable partnerships with Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, and most recently Ibrahima Konate.

Still quick across the ground, Van Dijk rarely has to rely on his pace to get him out of trouble. He reads the game like few others can, always covering the right spaces and ushering attackers out of dangerous positions.

In the air, he is dominant. The recent match against Spurs, which booked Liverpool a place in yet another League Cup final, was testament to his brilliance — every attempted out-ball was mercilessly mopped up by Van Dijk, before coming straight back at Tottenham.

Phil Thompson was an even more decorated Liverpool defender. He claimed three League Cups himself, a tally Van Dijk will hope to match this season, as well as no fewer than seven top flight titles, and three European Cups.

Even so, Thompson acknowledges that only one player can measure up to Van Dijk. And it's not himself.

"He is quite extraordinary," Thompson said of Van Dijk, speaking on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast. "Virgil has been quite something, and the only one I could compare him with would be Alan Hansen because the two of them were quite similar.

"They read the game so well, they look so comfortable at times, and very often, you don't see them having to make sliding tackles. When you're a good player, you're always in a position before that, and big Al was like that, and Virgil cruises through games, even the biggest of games, he's like that.

"He is a gem of a player, and our great success under Jurgen and hopefully with Arne Slot is based on playing in and around him. That is a big thing, his contract situation, but he's handled it very well.

"Hopefully, things do go in the right direction for us as Liverpool fans. He has been one of the great center-backs in the Premier League era."

Time will tell on the contract situation. But if this is to be Van Dijk's swansong, there would be no better way of marking it than some more silverware, which would only strengthen his standing in the pantheon of all-time Liverpool (and football) greats.