Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk as vowed to return from his ACL injury "as quickly as possible".

The Premier League champions were rocked by the news that their star defender will require potentially season-ending surgery on the knee injury he picked up during Saturday's Merseyside derby draw at Everton.

Van Dijk was on the end of a heavy Jordan Pickford challenge, for which the Everton goalkeeper faced no punishment despite VAR having the power to look back at the incident.

"This afternoon I met with a leading consultant to start the process of planning the finer details of my rehabilitation following the incident (on Saturday)," read a statement from the Dutchman.

"I'm now fully focussed on my recovery and will do everything I can to be back as quickly as possible. Despite the obvious disappointment, I'm a firm believer that within difficulty lies opportunity and with God's help I'm going to make sure I return better, fitter than ever before.

"In football, as in life, I believe everything happens for a reason and it's important to try and keep level headed whether going through the highs and lows. With the support of my wife, kids, family and everyone at Liverpool, I'm ready for the challenge ahead.

"I'd like to thank everyone for the messages of support, it's meant a huge amount to me and my family and I'll now be doing everything possible to support my teammates in any way I can ahead of a big weeks ahead as I take my own recovery day by day. I'll be back."

Van Dijk featured in every single Premier League match for Liverpool in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns, helping the Reds to accumulate a combined 196 points over those two seasons.