Virgil van Dijk picks Liverpool teammate ahead of eventual winner Ousmane Dembele in voting for FIFA The Best Men's Player award

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk's votes in The Best FIFA Men's Player award have been revealed. The Dutchman voted for his club teammate, Mohamed Salah, as the first option, with Ousmane Dembele and Nuno Mendes getting the other two votes.

FIFA have released the list of votes made by all national team captains and Van Dijk was among those who cast his vote. The Dutchman has stayed loyal to his club teammate, Salah, after the Egyptian's impressive display for Liverpool as they won the Premier League.

Salah played a key role under Arne Slot last season, scoring 34 goals and getting 23 assists, with 29 goals and 18 assists coming in the Premier League. The Reds also reached the Carabao Cup final, and Van Dijk wanted to ensure the winger's contributions were recognised.

Dembele got second place in Van Dijk's voting, with the Frenchman also taking home The Best FIFA Award. The PSG forward also won the Ballon d'Or this year, making it a clean sweep of the individual awards.

Mendes also played a vital role for PSG as they won the European treble last season, and Van Dijk ranked him third in his voting.

Virgil van Dijk spoke to Mohamed Slaah after explosive Liverpool comments

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk confirmed to the media that he spoke to Mohamed Slaah after the latter's recent comments about the club and manager Arne Slot. The Dutchman said that he hopes to see the Egyptian back at the club after AFCON and said (via talkSPORT):

"Of course I spoke to him. I speak about everything with him. Of course, I told him I want him to stay. The rest I'm not going to tell you. Well, first and foremost, it's not about me, it's about the rest of the team. I speak to Mo, I speak to almost all the players." "Obviously I hear, observe, and that's the most important thing. If you feel like it could be a problem within the squad, and it could affect the performances, then obviously you have a different story. But I think we showed this week that we are absolutely united. I hope that he'll stay, because he's one of my leaders. He's very important, and still is. You see today he got another assist. He's still important for the Football Club."

Mohamed Salah left Liverpool for AFCON but was not involved in the friendly played against Nigeria on Tuesday, December 16.

Edited by Sripad