Virgil van Dijk breaks silence on 'good friend' Mohamed Salah's Liverpool future amid Saudi Arabia & MLS interest

Van Dijk and Salah both appeared to have brought exit talk to a close when agreeing extensions to their respective contracts. Those terms are set to take both men through to the summer of 2027.

Salah, though, aimed an explosive outburst in Liverpool’s direction after finding himself restricted to bench duty. Those words, which were uttered in December 2025, saw the 33-year-old forward accuse the Reds of throwing him under the bus in a testing defence of their Premier League crown.

Inevitable exit rumours were sparked, but they eased slightly while Salah was away on Africa Cup of Nations duty. He has returned to favour since rejoining Arne Slot’s ranks, with an FA Cup goal being recorded in a fourth-round victory over Brighton.

Lucrative offers from the Middle East and MLS in North America are said to have already been tabled, with Salah potentially seeing his head turned, but Van Dijk hopes that a fellow Premier League and Champions League title winner will ignore any advances from afar.

Asked about Salah’s plans, Reds skipper Van Dijk said: “The situation is what it is. 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.”

The Dutch defender 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.

“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.”

While Liverpool are hoping to keep Salah and Van Dijk around for another 18 months, at least, ex-Reds striker Stan Collymore has suggested that both could soon be on the move. He has told GOAL: “For the remainder of the season he [Salah] will play, but for Liverpool to go on and be Arne Slot 2.0, one or both of him and Van Dijk may well go in the summer.

“I know they signed longer, improved terms, but I almost think that was to see what the players like [Hugo] Ekitike, Isak, Wirtz were going to be like bedding in. It hasn’t been good at the moment, they need them for the remainder of the season, but I do think that if you are going to indulge Isak and Wirtz as the new top men at Liverpool, then the old top men have got to go. 

“I think some of Mo’s mardiness has been around the fact that Isak and Wirtz come in and they get 6,000 tweets saying ‘welcome Wirtz, welcome Isak, you are the best thing since sliced bread’. I think he feels a little bit wounded and a little bit disrespected by that. 

“The only answer is, can they all play together nicely or is the more likely option - and this is what I think - maybe Van Dijk stays one season longer, but I think Mo’s gone in the summertime, for sure.”

Van Dijk has offered no indication that he is looking to move on, ahead of his 35th birthday, although Liverpool are in the process of acquiring long-term successors to the Netherlands international at the heart of their back four - with a £60 million ($82m) deal being struck for Jeremy Jacquet.

Salah is yet to make a public statement on his future, as Liverpool supporters are left hanging, with the record-breaking ‘Egyptian King’ focused on ending the 2025-26 campaign as positively as possible - with Slot’s side still chasing down FA Cup and Champions League glory alongside a bid for a top-four finish.