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Aymeric Laporte Sends Classy Message To Virgil van Dijk After ACL Injury

Aymeric Laporte Sends Classy Message To Virgil van Dijk After ACL Injury

Aymeric Laporte, who suffered a serious injury last term, has wished Virgil van Dijk well.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Aymeric Laporte has sent a classy message to Virgil van Dijk after his fellow centre-back suffered a serious knee injury in Saturday's Merseyside derby against Everton.

Van Dijk had to be replaced by Joe Gomez in the first half after being on the receiving end of a shocking Jordan Pickford challenge that went unpunished.

It's since been confirmed by Liverpool that the Dutch defender has damaged his knee ligaments and will require surgery - with Van Dijk potentially not playing again this season.

Manchester City defender Laporte was sidelined for the majority of last season after suffering a similar injury back in August 2019.

Image: PA
Image: PA

The Frenchman has taken to Twitter to wish Van Dijk well in his recovery.

Former Celtic and Southampton defender Van Dijk posted a statement on Twitter, revealing he had seen a specialist on Sunday and "will do everything I can to be back as quick as possible".

It's a catastrophic blow for the Premier League champions as Van Dijk, signed for £75 million in January 2018, has been integral to the Reds' Champions League and Premier League successes in recent years.

Image: PA
Image: PA

In 92 consecutive games, he's tasted victory 72 times and lost just seven games when commanding the Reds backline.

There were reports that Van Dijk knocked back Pickford's apology due to his anger at the tackle, though Jordan Henderson later revealed the England goalkeeper had asked to pass on a message.

Pickford has come in for widespread criticism for his reckless actions but former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has come to his defence and believes there was no intent.

"I am going to defend Jordan Pickford on that," he said on Sky Sports.

"Yeah, it was a terrible tackle. I've had my leg broken, I nearly broke Nani's leg. These things happen, unfortunately in football, I don't think anyone goes out deliberately to hurt someone.

"I believe 99 per cent of professional footballers will not go and hurt someone.

"Jordan Pickford is all over the place with his game at the moment, he comes out, makes a crazy decision as he has been doing over the last 12 months, and very, very unfortunately one of the top players in the Premier League is in a bad way."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Manchester City, Liverpool, Football, Jordan Pickford, Everton, Virgil Van Dijk, Aymeric Laporte

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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