A cheeky Tottenham Hotspur mascot made a plea for Virgil van Dijk to sign for his club prior to Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final.

Spurs’ defensive woes have received much publicity in recent weeks with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven injured at present. Given the January transfer window is currently open and Van Dijk’s future looks uncertain, one optimistic fan suggested the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium could be the ideal location for the experienced defender.

As the Liverpool players made their way back to the locker room, after warming up ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final, they passed the Spurs mascots lined up in the tunnel. A shout of: “Virgil come to Tottenham, we don’t have any good defenders at the moment,” greeted the Liverpool skipper as he high-five the kids.

Spurs does seem an unlikely destination despite the attempt of the plucky mascot - a hilarious moment that was widely shared on social media. The former Southampton man has been linked with a switch to Real Madrid in recent days - although the reports have been taken with a pinch of salt.

There’s still hope that the 33-year-old will pen a new deal and extend his stay beyond this season. Van Dijk’s form has remained consistently high this term, with the Dutchman not missing a single minute of Liverpool’s Premier League and Champions League campaigns.

Asked about his future at the weekend, Van Dijk said there is no new update. “I don’t think [there will be an update soon] but I am calm about it, like I said months ago,” he told Sky Sports.

“We’ll see what happens in the future and at this point I have absolutely no update. It’s all about at the moment focusing, for me and the team, on Spurs. It will be a tough game again, but a good semi-final.”

As for Spurs, the London club has endured some high-profile defensive woes in recent months, including conceding six against Liverpool last month and three against Manchester United just a few days prior.

Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray have filled in at the heart of defence in the last few weeks amid an injury crisis at the back, which has resulted in Tottenham failing to win any of the last four league matches and dropping to 12th in the table.