Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk says the club will never be able to directly replace Mohamed Salah following the Egyptian forward’s departure at the end of last season.
The Netherlands defender believes Salah’s contribution to Liverpool was unique, but says the club must respond collectively as they attempt to challenge for the Premier League title again.
Salah leaves Liverpool after becoming one of the most influential attacking players in the club’s recent history, creating a significant gap in the squad as the team prepares for a new campaign.
Van Dijk, however, insists Liverpool’s focus should be on improving as a team rather than attempting to find another player capable of replicating everything Salah provided.
The captain also admitted that Liverpool’s performances last season did not meet the standards expected at the club.
“As captain of Liverpool and as a player in the squad, I want to compete for the Premier League title, but you also have to be realistic, and we saw how strong Arsenal were last year. We saw how consistent they were, and of course if you look at their squad at the moment, they also have good depth in their ranks.”
Van Dijk believes Liverpool have enough quality within their squad to compete for the title, but says significantly better performances will be required.
“But looking at myself and our team, I feel that we have the quality that certainly qualifies us to compete for the Premier League title, but we have to perform much better than we did last year, and that’s a fact.”
The defender described Liverpool’s previous campaign as unacceptable by the club’s standards and said the most important response to a disappointing season is to learn from it.
“What did I learn from last season? I think the most important thing in all of that is that we had a season that was completely unacceptable for a Liverpool player and by Liverpool standards. Of course, you can’t be perfect all the time in life.”
Van Dijk was also asked about the impact of Salah’s departure and whether Liverpool could find a player capable of filling the Egyptian’s role.
The captain acknowledged the scale of the loss but argued that Liverpool should appreciate Salah’s achievements rather than expect another player to reproduce them.
“Nothing lasts forever, and of course you remember Mohamed Salah, which is entirely justified, because I don’t think we will ever be able to replace a player of this value and the way he performed and what he gave to the club, and in my opinion, that is a good thing.”
Salah’s departure closes a hugely successful chapter of his Liverpool career. Since becoming one of the club’s key attacking players, the Egyptian has played a major role in the team’s success and established himself as one of the most important figures of the modern era at Anfield.
Liverpool must now begin a new period without him.
Van Dijk believes the club’s ability to respond to last season’s disappointment will be more important than the changes themselves.
“You can’t always be at the top, but what matters is how you react to it, and it’s up to us and what we do every day now, as we start from scratch again. Everything is open to us, the competitions are waiting for us, and that’s exciting. So that will be our full focus, and we have to be much better than we were last year.”
