'Waited so long for this': Some Liverpool fans celebrate as club 'finally' confirm player's return

By Dylan Walsh

Liverpool have confirmed that Virgil van Dijk has returned to full training after nine months out through injury.

The club posted on their official Twitter account that the Dutch defender was back on the pitch as Liverpool began pre-season in Austria.

Van Dijk has been out of action since rupturing his ACL in the Merseyside derby back in October. However, the centre-back is back to full fitness and has returned to training with the Reds.

Liverpool suffered massively without Van Dijk last season. Jurgen Klopp’s side had plenty of centre-back problems throughout the campaign, with Joe Gomez also out with a long-term injury.

Indeed, the Reds managed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. And next campaign will no doubt be an interesting one for Liverpool with Van Dijk back to full fitness.

Liverpool suffered numerous injures last campaign that derailed their attempt to retain the Premier League title.

The likes of Thiago Alcantara, Trent Alexander-Arnold and the aforementioned Van Dijk missed multiple games out on the sideline with injury.

Moreover, on social media, Liverpool fans were buzzing that the Dutch centre-back was back on the pitch and training again with the first-team.

Here’s what some Liverpool fans had to say about Van Dijk and his full return to training from injury on Twitter…

As well as Van Dijk returning to training, Liverpool fans can get excited about centre-back Ibrahima Konate.

The French defender will likely feature in the opening game of the season against Norwich City after Konate completed a move to Liverpool this summer from RB Leipzig.