Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk sends fans into meltdown with injury rehab update

As Virgil van Dijk gave an injury recovery update on Instagram, Liverpool fans have been sent to meltdown.

After picking up an ACL tear in the Merseyside derby, the Dutchman has been out of action for the Reds since October.

The defender gave a first public appearance on Tuesday with a post on Instagram after undergoing a successful operation within days of the match.

And today on the social media site, Van Dijk posted even more optimistic updates as he made a return to Melwood.

As he strides around the gym at the club’s new £ 50m Kirkby building, the defender can be seen laughing.

Another picture, with a white bandage around the top of his left leg, shows the Dutchman applying light pressure on the knee.

He raises above his head two weighted wires as a physicist applies pressure on his heart.

Van Dijk uses TRX cables in another exercise to focus on propulsion by placing all of his body weight on the injured leg.

And as he jogs in a pool, the last picture shows the defender tracking his progress.

Within four hours of posting, the photos received more than 500,000 likes as the Anfield faithful shared their joy at the update of the injured star.

Van Dijk is one of 11 Premier League champions’ injury bench players who saw Jurgen Klopp blast player safety at his most recent press conference.

And this was a dilemma that the Reds boss brought up with Des Kelly in his exceptional rant live on BT Sport.