Liverpool defender Van Dijk has 'successful' knee surgery

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has undergone successful knee surgery in London, the club said Friday. The Netherlands center back sustained ligament damage in his right knee on a reckless challenge by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during a 2-2 draw on Oct. 17. The club said there's no timeframe for the 29-year-old Van Dijk's return.

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has undergone successful knee surgery in London, the club said Friday. The Netherlands center back sustained ligament damage in his right knee on a reckless challenge by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during a 2-2 draw on Oct. 17.

The club said there's no timeframe for the 29-year-old Van Dijk's return. “After surgery — and it was successful, which is really good, the best news you could get — this time is always unpleasant,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said Friday. “Everybody who had surgery knows that. You don't wake up and everything is fine. You feel, still, the surgery. But he's good, as good as you can be, and that's it.” Liverpool hosts West Ham on Saturday and will be without midfielder Fabinho, who had filled in on defense for Van Dijk. The Brazilian has a hamstring injury.

Liverpool had contacted the Premier League regarding Pickford's challenge, but Klopp declined to disclose details Friday. “I don't want to talk about this anymore,” he said. “I would talk immediately about it if it would change anything but it doesn't. I'm not sure if the world is really in a place right now where we have to keep this story going.”

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