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Virgil van Dijk has wished Mohamed Salah well as the Egyptian heads to AFCON, with the Liverpool captain clear in his desire for the Egyptian to stay at Anfield.
After his explosive interview at Elland Road, Salah cast doubt on his future. But he has since been brought back into the team, and he impressed against Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday, coming on for the injured Joe Gomez in the first half.
"I wish Mo absolutely all the best and he will come back, hopefully," he told reporters at Anfield. "I have no control over that. He is one of the leaders but he is going to AFCON. We will be in contact in the next days and weeks and we always are.
"The reality of the situation is there is so much noise. Me as the captain, I have to deal with that. The boys reacted incredibly. Mo was good today, he was good in training on Sunday and Monday.
"We trained yesterday and he was perfectly fine. It is all about how the team reacts and in my eyes, when I speak to the team, everyone handled it perfectly. Of course, I told him I want him to stay.
"We showed with the performances that we are all united and we go forward as one. Mo is going to the Africa Cup and we hope he will be successful there and we hope that he is coming back with us for the rest of the season.
"But we all know football and we have no idea what's going to happen. He is very important still, as he showed with another assist. We want him to stay. Hopefully he is here and he comes back winning the AFCON."
Van Dijk didn't want to disclose what was said in conversations at the training ground this week, but wins over Inter Milan and now Brighton will have dramatically improved the mood.
"That is something we have to deal with behind the scenes but I think the performance speaks for itself," he said. "That's the most important thing.
"The mood in the dressing room has always been very good. It can go down if you lose but the main thing is that we have the hunger to turn this around.
"The way you defend with each other, that matters. You see today and also in the midweek game [against Inter Milan] how much commitment there is. That's a good thing to see.
"[The manager has] handled the situation very well. It is a very tricky situation. There is a lot of noise and pressure from the outside world. We are all human and everyone reacts in a certain way.
"It's a very together club. That's how it's been before our time and that is something we have to keep going. We go through these times together."
Elsewhere, Hugo Ekitike, who scored twice, put in another good showing, running so much that he went off with cramp in the second half.
"Very clinical," Van Dijk said. "Obviously a great finish [for the first one] and then a corner as well. I was behind him, I think, but he did it himself, and it's important for him to score goals.
"He wants more from himself and we all want a lot from him. For him, it has not been an easy season to come in. He just has to stay calm, keep working, and help the rest of the team and Alex [Isak] as well."
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Alongside Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate was impressive too. The Frenchman has looked much better in the last two games, getting through them without making a catastrophic mistake.
"Everyone at his best helps everyone in the team," Van Dijk said. "That is why it is a team sport. Ibou is a fantastic defender and when the team is not performing as a collective, we as the last line can be exposed.
"That happened at times and individual mistakes cost us, including myself at times. Unfortunately, that is a part of the game. It is about how you deal with it and how you react.
"Ibou as an example as been outstanding in the last two games. He is working on things like we all do. He helps me and I help him and that is how it should be."
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