Virgil van Dijk has provided a measured response to the Liverpool supporters booing Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield on Sunday.
A week ago, Alexander-Arnold officially confirmed he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season when his contract expires - moving on to a new challenge.
Ending a 20-year association with his boyhood club, Alexander-Arnold's new chapter is widely expected to be at Real Madrid, where he is poised to sign a five-year contract.
In his first game since the announcement, the 26-year-old was loudly booed by large sections of the supporters at Anfield when he came on as a substitute in the 67th minute of the 2-2 draw.
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Fans chanted for Steven Gerrard and Conor Bradley, who Alexander-Arnold replaced, and then made their feelings clear with jeers every time he touched the ball.
After the game, Andy Robertson, said it "wasn't nice" to hear the boos to one of his best friends but said he was "not going to tell anyone how to feel".
Arne Slot had a similar stance and stressed that fans are "allowed to have their own opinion".
Alexander-Arnold, as expected, was not available for interviews but skipper Van Dijk spoke to reporters in the mixed zone and weighed in with a "deal with it" remark.
“I think the manager said it right in the press conference that you can’t decide how anyone feels about the decision he made for him and his family,” Van Dijk said.
“The reaction happened. He has to deal with it. We as a team have to deal with that as well, by the way. But I think maybe he expected this. We have two more games and then we part ways and he will go somewhere else.
“I wasn’t really expecting anything. It’s not easy, not at all. We’re here for him. We are gutted that he’s not here with us next year because he’s a fantastic player in my opinion, with outstanding, exceptional qualities that we have all been seeing over the last seven years I’ve been here. We’re definitely going to miss him when he’s gone."
Van Dijk joined Mo Salah in signing a contract extension but Alexander-Arnold has played his penultimate game at Anfield for Liverpool.
He and the Liverpool side will lift the Premier League trophy after the visit of Crystal Palace and Van Dijk is confident the noise around Alexander-Arnold will not put a dampener on their 20th title triumph.
“It shouldn’t (overshadow the title celebrations)," he continued.
"There are a lot more players that also deserve an amazing day. I don’t think it will.
“He made the decision for himself and he’s at peace with it. We have two more games that he will have to play a part in as well. I’m sure he will because he’s a fantastic player and then we’ll say goodbye to him.”
The boos for Alexander-Arnold did seem to lessen as the game went on and he applauded supporters afterwards as he headed down the tunnel, though Dominik Szoboszlai appeared to to gesture towards the Kop to ‘lay off’ the England international as he did.
Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Real Madrid
Josh Lawless