LONDON: Virgil van Dijk wants Mohamed Salah to stay at Liverpool despite the Egyptian star&#39;s &nbsp;incendiary rant about the club, but the Reds captain admits he does not know what will happen over the next few weeks.&nbsp;Salah came off the bench against Brighton on Saturday for his first appearance since claiming he had been &quot;thrown under the bus&quot; by the club following last weekend&#39;s 3-3 draw with Leeds.&nbsp;The forward also said in the same interview at Elland Road that he had no relationship with Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who had named him as a substitute for three straight games.&nbsp;Salah was then omitted from the midweek Champions League trip to Inter Milan, a 1-0 win for Liverpool, but he was back in action as a first-half substitute against Brighton.&nbsp;The 33-year-old provided an assist for Hugo Ekitike&#39;s second goal in a much-needed 2-0 win, but will now jet to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and could be absent for five weeks.&nbsp;After the match, Slot said there was &quot;no issue to resolve&quot; with his star forward, but speculation continues to rumble over the player&#39;s future.&nbsp;Van Dijk is adamant that he wants Salah to stay and said he had told him so.&nbsp;&quot;I would love to have him around because he is one of the leaders, but the fact is he is going to AFCON. We will be in contact over the next days and weeks like we always are and let&#39;s see,&quot; the Dutch defender said.&nbsp;&quot;I wish him absolutely all the best -- and (to) come back, hopefully. I have no control over that.&nbsp;&quot;We hope he will be absolutely successful there and we all hope he will be coming back to be important for the rest of the season.&nbsp;&quot;But, on the other side of it, we all know football and have no idea what is going to happen.&quot;&nbsp;Premier League champions Liverpool ended a tumultuous week by extending their unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions.&nbsp;Van Dijk said it proved the dressing room had not been distracted by the Salah situation.&nbsp;&quot;As a captain I have to deal with how the boys react to it and they reacted perfectly fine. Mo, in the end, reacted perfectly fine as well,&quot; he added.&nbsp;Van Dijk also praised Slot for dealing with a tumultuous period at Liverpool, whose Premier League title defence has collapsed in recent weeks.&nbsp;&quot;There is a lot of noise, pressure from the outside world and rightly so as we&#39;ve not been close to the standard we were showing last season,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;But personally looking at it, and from the conversations we have on a daily basis, I think he has handled it very well.&nbsp;&quot;This moment of time is a very good moment to see how everyone responds. I think the manager has done perfectly.&quot;

Football

Virgil van Dijk wants Mohamed Salah to stay at Liverpool despite recent tensions, praising him as a leader. Salah assisted against Brighton before AFCON, while Van Dijk backed Arne Slot’s handling of the situation well.

Van Dijk wants 'leader' Salah to stay at Liverpool

LIVERPOOL: Arne Slot said there was &quot;no issue to resolve&quot; after bringing Mohamed Salah on as a substitute in Liverpool&#39;s 2-0 win against Brighton on Saturday -- a week after the forward&#39;s explosive comments about the club.&nbsp;Hugo Ekitike scored at Anfield after 46 seconds and Salah, introduced in the 26th minute, set up the Frenchman for a second goal with half an hour to go.&nbsp;Salah accused Liverpool of throwing him &quot;under the bus&quot; after he was left on the bench for last week&#39;s 3-3 draw at Leeds -- the third match in a row that he did not start.&nbsp;He also said that he had no relationship with Liverpool manager Slot when he spoke to reporters after the match at Elland Road.&nbsp;He was omitted from the midweek Champions League trip to Inter Milan, which Liverpool won 1-0, and he was the subject of intense scrutiny in the build-up to Saturday&#39;s game at Anfield.&nbsp;Slot said at Friday&#39;s pre-match press conference that he would speak to the forward later in the day, adding: &quot;I have no reasons (for) not wanting him to stay.&quot;&nbsp;Speaking after the win against Brighton, Slot said that there was &quot;no issue to resolve&quot; with Salah, whose corner was headed home by Ekitike in the 60th minute.&nbsp;&quot;For me he&#39;s now the same as any other player,&quot; he said. &quot;You talk to your players if you&#39;re happy or unhappy with things, but there&#39;s nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds, after the game.&quot;&nbsp;Slot confirmed that Salah was left out of the squad for the fixture in Italy due to his interview.&nbsp;&quot;Every manager makes different decisions... but he wasn&#39;t involved in the game against (Inter) Milan, and I spoke to him yesterday,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;Actions louder than words&nbsp;&quot;I think, as I usually never say anything about (what) we talk about, I&#39;m not going to make an exception now, but I think actions speak louder than what has been said.&nbsp;&quot;He was in the squad again and when I had to make my first substitutions, I brought him in. And he performed as I think every fan, including me, would like him to perform today.&quot;&nbsp;Salah, 33, who signed a new two-year contract at Liverpool in April, will now depart for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).&nbsp;The length of his absence depends on how far Egypt go in the competition in Morocco, with the final on January 18.&nbsp;The forward, who has been linked with a move to the wealthy Saudi Pro League, had invited his family to the Brighton game as speculation swirled over his future.&nbsp;Slot laughed off a question about whether the match could have been Salah&#39;s last for the club.&nbsp;&quot;He wasn&#39;t the only player who walked around the pitch thanking the fans, because the fans deserved a thank you from us,&quot; he said.&nbsp;The Dutchman added: &quot;Mo is going to go to the AFCON now, I hope he&#39;s going to do very well, and in the meantime, we have to play here without him, with not that many players available at the moment.&quot;

Liverpool beat Brighton 2-0 as Mohamed Salah, returning after bench controversy, assisted Hugo Ekitike’s goal. Manager Arne Slot said there was “no issue to resolve,” emphasizing Salah’s performance, now heading to the Africa Cup of Nations.


Articles tagged with "MOHAMMAD SALAH"

Van Dijk wants 'leader' Salah to stay at Liverpool

Liverpool's Slot says 'no issue to resolve' with Salah after outburst