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Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have opened up about what it was like behind the scenes last season as their contract sagas unfolded amid the race for the Premier League title.
The Reds lifted the Premier League trophy in May, but it was only a matter of weeks before that when Salah and Van Dijk's futures were clarified. The pair, after long negotiations, penned two-year extensions to keep them at Anfield until 2027.
All season long, the duo — alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold, who decided to leave for Real Madrid — were a major side-story to Liverpool's on-field success. Losing arguably his three best players for nothing would not have been good for Arne Slot.
Instead, Salah and Van Dijk did eventually stay. While Alexander-Arnold left to link up with Xabi Alonso in Spain, the England ace did earn Liverpool a transfer fee as he left in time to play for Real Madrid at the Club World Cup.
"Both of us, every day!" Salah told All Red Video when he was asked if he and Van Dijk ever spoke about their contract situations while the situation was unfolding last season.
"We’ve been together for eight years. We appreciate that so much. We know how much we work, and we try to push each other and the younger players.
"We always had that conversation. What was going on between us — me and Virgil and his guys, we always see each other."
"We’re at the age now as well that it all comes down to the responsibility that we have to our teammates, to the club, to the fans to perform," Van Dijk said.
"It was not a difficult thing in some ways to do for us. We just had to perform, and what will be will be, so that’s how we went to it.
"Obviously, it took quite a while, so we had to sit tight. But I think for both of us, we got the outcome that we both wanted, and I think the Liverpool fans as well."
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"You can ask anyone, I know what I’m supposed to do, what not," Salah added. "So I go into the season like, 'OK, if that’s my last season, I need to enjoy it, I need to show the fans that I really give them everything that I could give'.
"And I also want to lead by example for the younger players. They see like, 'OK, someone has a contract situation like that and still can be able to focus and give it all for the club'."
Salah netted his first goal in the Premier League as Liverpool beat Bournemouth 4-2 last Friday. The Reds will take on Newcastle next at St James' Park.
Liverpool.com says: It was an underrated part of the summer when Liverpool got Salah and Van Dijk tied down. For all the major signings that have come in under Slot, those two remain absolutely fundamental.
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