Virgil van Dijk has said he wants Mohamed Salah to stay at Liverpool but admits he is unsure about the Egypt international’s future after the Africa Cup of Nations.
Salah, who had been left out following a public dispute with Arne Slot, returned for the 2-0 win over Brighton, replacing the injured Joe Gomez.
“Of course I’ve told him I want him to stay,” Van Dijk said. “The rest I’m not going to tell you. I would love to have him around because he is one of the leaders, but the matter of fact is that he is going to AFCON.
“I wish him absolutely all the best, we will be in contact over the next days [or] weeks because we always are and then let’s see. Why did it happen? That’s someone else you have to ask the question.
“Did this week affect the players? No. Did you see the performances? The reality of the situation is that it is bringing so much noise. Me, as a captain, I have to deal with how the boys react to it and I think the boys reacted perfectly fine.
“Mo reacted, in the end, perfectly fine as well. He was good today, he was good Sunday and Monday when we trained, he didn’t travel [to Milan] and we trained yesterday together and he was perfectly fine too.
“It’s all about how the team reacts and in my eyes and what I see and how I speak to the guys, I think everyone handled it perfectly well.”
Van Dijk added: “First of all it’s not about me, it’s about the rest of the team. I speak to Mo, I speak to almost all the players, I hear, observe, and that’s the most important thing.
“If you feel it could be a problem within the squad and it could affect the performances then you have a different story but I think we showed this week that we are absolutely united and we go forward as one.
“Mo is going to the Africa Cup of Nations and we all hope he is going to be absolutely successful there and we all hope that he’s coming back and being important for us for the rest of the season.
“But on the other side of it we all know football and we have no idea what’s going to happen.
“I hope he stays because he’s one of my leaders, he is very important and still – as you see today with another assist – important for the football club. But there’s more parties to this situation.”
Read more: Arne Slot provides update on Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai injuries
Why Mohamed Salah doesn’t use his full name on the back of his Liverpool top
Arne Slot has not ‘enjoyed’ the past week at Liverpool following Mohamed Salah’s bombshell interview
