Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk revealed that he had a chat with star man Mohamed Salah following his recent outburst, subsequent punishment and eventual reintegration into the Merseyside team.
Van Dijk stressed the value the Egyptian brings to the table and highlighted the essence of his presence and role in the Merseyside club’s future.
“I’ve told Mo Salah I want him to stay. The rest I’m not going to tell you,” the Dutchman said.
“Mo is going to AFCON and we all hope he’ll be successful there and he’ll come back and be important for us for the rest of the season,” he added.
“The other side of it is that we all know football and we have no idea what is going to happen,” the stopper-back continued.
“I hope that he stays because he is one of
my leaders and still very important for the football club. But there’s more parties to this situation,” he added.
Salah, who was dropped by head coach Arne Slot for Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League triumph over Inter Milan on the road, but was included in the squad for the Reds’ win over Sunderland with the Egyptian coming off the bench to set up his side’s second goal in the 2-0 victory.
Liverpool stand sixth in the Premier League with 26 points from 16 outings, with Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Crystal Palace ahead of them in the English top-flight.
Arsenal survived a scare against Wolves as Mikel Arteta and Co. required not one but two ow goals working in their favour to eke out a 2-1 triumph, before Manchester City coasted to a 3-0 win at Selhurst Park to close the gap at the top to 2 points as Erling Haaland and Phil Foden got on the scoresheet.
Nottingham Forest ran riot against Tottenham Hotspurs at the City Grounds on Sunday in the Premier League engagement between the sides, while Aston Villa posted a win at the London Stadium against West Ham.
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s brace and Ibrahim Sangare’s strike gave Forest a 3-0 win over Spurs, while Villa held on to register a 3-2 win over West Ham.
