Mohamed Salah's long-term future at Liverpool remains in doubt, with links to Saudi Arabia not going away, but things have settled down since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk wants Mohamed Salah to stay at Liverpool this summer(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Virgil van Dijk has made it clear that he wants Mohamed Salah to stay at Liverpool beyond the end of the season. Salah's future has been thrown into doubt by a falling out with Arne Slot and continued interest from Saudi Arabia and a decision needs to be made this summer.
Salah accused Slot of throwing him under the bus during a period of poor form for Liverpool in December. The two put that argument behind them and transfer speculation died down in January, with Salah's time at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt coming at a good time.
The 33-year-old has started every match since his return from AFCON and has been performing well. Salah provided a goal and an assist in Liverpool's comfortable 3-0 win over Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday night and Van Dijk is in no doubt about what he wants, with Salah under contract until June 2027.
“The situation is what it is," said Van Dijk. "The full focus is on trying to make this season a success first and we will see how then the season ends and then you never know what happens.
"I always want Mo to stay because I'm a good friend of him and we've been through the highs and not-so-highs – I don't want to call them lows – together for so many years. The same as me he's got one more year, so we will see.”
He added: "Mo is still so important for us. Last week he had an assist again and broke another record and he is still the leader and important for me personally, as a captain, to have around and to have him on the pitch and his presence benefits the team.
“He always gives the team more than goals. There's obviously a lot of focus on his goals at the moment and that's also part of his life because he puts the standards so extremely high, so when he doesn't score as much he gets criticised.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates
Mohamed Salah tapped his heart after scoring against Brighton (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
View 2 Images
"He has to stay calm and try to be important with everything he still can do and there is so much still. He is important for us on and off the pitch."
Slot is delighted with Salah's form and hailed his performance after a deft assist for Dominik Szoboszlai and a thumping penalty against Brighton. "It's very nice to have him on the scoresheet again and him having an assist," he said.
"But I think what I like the most at the moment, that he's scoring goals is something you can almost expect, but he also helps the team a lot defensively.
"That is something very positive – what the team also needs – and I think more and more players are now capable of playing at this intensity level every three days. That is where we struggled a lot in the beginning of the season, where it was sometimes hard for us to bring the intensity level once a week, let alone every three days.
"But now we're able to do so, we see more and more the quality we have. That's why I've said so many times already that the future looks really bright for this club with these players, and I think the recent seven, eight, nine, 10 games are showing that as well."
Join our LFC WhatsApp community and get all the latest LFC news, views, transfer gossip and more, as it happens We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Content Image
Content Image