Van Dijk reveals what negatively affected Salah when Liverpool quadruple hopes were on the line

Virgil van Dijk admitted the performance levels of Mohamed Salah may have been negatively affected when Liverpool needed him the most last season.

Salah was once again Liverpool’s top scorer in a campaign that produced two trophies last term. The Egyptian winger bagged 31 goals across all competitions to help the Reds do the domestic cup double.

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However, when the season approached crunch time, Salah’s output noticeably dropped off. Indeed, he scored just four times in Liverpool’s final 20 games.

Some speculated the decline in form was due to the sheer volume of matches Salah was asked to play.

On top of his Liverpool commitments, Salah featured seven times for Egypt during AFCON in January-February. Four of those clashes went to extra time.

However, according to Van Dijk, Salah’s contract stand-off may have been the real reason his output fell.

Salah had less than 18 months remaining on his deal during last season’s run-in and little progress was being made over an extension.

Thankfully for Reds fans, a new two-year extension was finally forthcoming in June, though Van Dijk