Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has revealed that teammate Mohamed Salah is not playing with a free mind having sorted out his long-term future with the club.
The Egyptian international’s future was up in the air earlier this summer because of his contract situation but he has now signed a new long-term deal with the Reds.
Van Dijk has claimed that the player might have been distracted because of the uncertainty surrounding his future prior to signing the new deal.
“I think he already showed his level already for the last three years,” said the Dutchman to Liverpool Echo. “He’s under the microscope all of the time, he created that himself, he’s such a good player but he shows that consistently all the time in my opinion.
“At the end of the season, from maybe April until the end, there was a lot of talk about the contract and stuff, we’re all human beings and maybe that affected him a little bit unfortunately. Now everything is sorted, he’s playing with a free mind, he’s happy to be here and I think everyone else is happy too.”
The player was linked with clubs like PSG and Barcelona.
Salah’s form dipped considerably towards the end of last season because of all the talk surrounding his future. He had scored 27 goals by the end of February, but he managed to score just four goals in the last 20 games of the season.
The Reds will feel that they could have won the Champions League if their key star was in his peak form.
Liverpool will be delighted to have sorted out a key player’s future and Salah has certainly been playing with more freedom since.
The Egyptian was outstanding against Manchester City in the Community Shield game and he will be hoping to have a memorable season this year.
Salah has helped Liverpool win the Premier League title and the Champions League during his time at the club and he will be crucial to Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of winning silverware this season.
