**Virgil van Dijk hopes Ibrahima Konate will extend his stay at Liverpool.**
Konate is now in the final six months of his current deal at Anfield with fears that the highly-rated defender could leave as a free agent at the end of this season.
The France international has been locked in talks with the Reds’ hierarchy over a potential new contract but those negotiations are yet to deliver a breakthrough.
With his centre-back partner’s time on Merseyside ticking down, Van Dijk is hopeful that a resolution can be reached despite admitting the situation remains uncertain.
He said: “We are friends, we speak about everything.
“It’s a process and let’s see what comes out of it. It’s never that easy. We saw with my situation last year so it’s never that easy that we can just say: ‘Let’s get it done’.
“Obviously I want him to stay. He’s an important figure on the pitch. That’s what everyone sees but off the pitch as well.
“He’s one of the leaders. He’s outstanding and in my eyes, a world-class centre back. I can do only so much.
“But it’s in the club’s hands, together with his agents and himself, so let’s see what comes out of it but I have no influence otherwise on that.
“It was not my decision to leave \[my contract\] that late but it is what it is. There is always hope \[for Konate staying\].”
Van Dijk scored the only goal in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Sunderland on Wednesday which ended the hosts’ record as the Premier League’s sole unbeaten home side.
The victory moved Arne Slot’s side to within three points of a Champions League place after the head coach had described a failure to qualify as ‘unacceptable’.
“It’s a good win. Now we recover and go back home,” added the Liverpool captain.
“What gives confidence is the performance – not that we won here or broke their record. It’s the performance.
“Defensively, we were very good. Offensively, we should have scored more but we take the three points.
“There’s plenty of improvement if you compare our games that period in November but I feel like we’re still not where we want to be.
“That’s down to us but games like tonight show we’re in a good way but we have to keep going.”