Virgil van Dijk decided not to take the route of Mo Salah when asked about his Liverpool contract status, with one teammate given pity minutes by Arne Slot.
One of three key players approaching the end of their Liverpool contract, Van Dijk has been less public with his comments on the situation than Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Liverpool are yet to reach a breakthrough with any member of that trio and Salah has been unusually open in discussing the matter publicly, even using post-match interviews to claim there have been no talks at all.
Alexander-Arnold’s case is slightly different in that he has been directly and specifically linked with a move to a different club in Real Madrid, while the possible suitors for Salah and Van Dijk have not been named.
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Van Dijk was asked about his future after the Girona game but chose to divulge nothing, saying there was “no word” and “no news” to share.
The captain did praise goalkeeper Alisson, whose return from injury likely marks the imminent exit of Caoimhin Kelleher.
“Yeah I think we needed him a couple of times, maybe too many, but he was there again and I’m happy for him and all of us that he’s back,” Van Dijk said.
“He’s such an important player for us on and off the pitch, so very happy that he’s back.”
Arne Slot agreed with that assessment despite being “far from pleased” at the overall team performance against Girona.
The head coach was more sympathetic than angry with Darwin Nunez however, as the Uruguayan missed a host of chances to extend his goalless run to five games.
Nunez has scored just three times in 19 appearances under Slot, who said he did everything he could to give him the opportunity to improve that record.
“What I can agree on is that he missed a few chances,” he said. “Then it’s always the question: does this have anything to do with low confidence or is this a situation where he’s in at the moment?
“I think every striker all around the world has periods where every ball goes in, and sometimes he has a period where you try so hard but you’re not able to score.
“I would have loved to see Darwin score because I think every striker wants to score [and] needs goals – that’s why I kept him in for quite a long time. He was a threat but unfortunately he couldn’t score.”
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