Virgil Van Dijk Defended His Teammate Mohamed Salah in the Face of Criticism in Liverpool

Salah's teammate marked him as a leader and an important person in the team

Van Dijk came to Salah's defense.

Virgil van Dijk affirmed the importance of Mohamed Salah in the Liverpool team. This reaffirmation from a teammate comes at a critical moment, as Salah does not have a good relationship with the coach, Arne Slot, and a relationship he admitted was broken before going to the Africa Cup of Nations.

"Salah remains important to us. He remains a leader," affirmed the Dutch national. "It's key to have him on the field."

Salah, AFCON, and Arne Slot

The Egyptian forward, after his return from AFCON 2025, was a starter in all of Liverpool's matches, considering that before his departure, his appearances had been irregular and inconsistent, along with the deteriorating relationship between Salah and Slot.

Mohamed Salah had an outstanding performance during the AFCON, reaching ten goals in the competition, and together with the Egyptian team, they made it to the semifinals, where they fell to the team that would become champions, Senegal.

Salah's high standards

"He always contributes much more than just goals. He himself has set the bar so high that when he doesn't score as much, he receives criticism, but there are many things that people don't see and that are fundamental for the team to succeed," concluded the Liverpool defender.

The truth is that Salah's numbers will become more representative as he continues to accumulate minutes consistently, something he wasn't doing before he participated in AFCON.