Koeman was in the same boat as his countryman ahead of the 1990 World Cup, when he was just declared fit ahead of the tournament after a lengthy layoff due to a knee injury.
The Dutchman worked hard to get fit and play in the World Cup and he is aware of how Van Dijk might be pushing himself to make sure that he is in the Netherlands squad for the summer’s European Championship.
He feels that players could even make a mistake in trying to rush back into playing football, and Koeman admits that he wants Van Dijk to play for Liverpool ahead of the tournament.
“As a player, you give everything to get fit”, he told Dutch daily De Telegraaf.
“You actually want to play the tournament at all costs, sometimes against your better judgement.
“I can totally imagine what he is doing.
“Who knows, maybe he can play a match for Liverpool before the European Championship as that would help.”
However, Koeman indicated that Liverpool will want to avoid Van Dijk taking any risks to play in the European Championship as he has a certain financial value to the club.
“Virgil has a certain value for the team, but also a financial value for the club.
“So the stakes are enormous and that explains why Jurgen Klopp is very defensive in his statements.”
