"He is definitely one of them" - Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk sends message to Sadio Mane after Bayern Munich forward is ruled out of the FIFA World Cup

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has sent a message to Sadio Mane after the Bayern Munich forward was ruled out of the FIFA World Cup. The Dutchman said that the Bayern Munich attacker is one of the best players in the world and the tournament will miss a player of his quality.

The Senegalese star has been ruled out of the FIFA World Cup after suffering a knee injury in Bayern's 6-1 win over Werder Bremen. The former Liverpool attacker had to undergo surgery and will now miss the FIFA World Cup.

Reds defender Van Dijk has opened up on his former teammate's absence in the biggest competition in world football. He believes that Senegal have plenty of quality across their squad but are bound to miss Mane. The 31-year-old told ESPN Netherlands, as quoted by SB Nation's The Liverpool Offside:

“I feel terrible for him to miss the World Cup. The tournament deserves the best players in the world and he is definitely one of them."

“He is also a very good friend of mine, so I am really disappointed that I cannot play against him."

"Senegal have enough players who can replace him, but they are not like him. Mane is in a different category.”

Sadio Mane joined Bayern Munich from Liverpool earlier this summer in a deal worth €41 million after spending six glorious years at Anfield. The 30-year-old played a key role for Jurgen Klopp's side over the years as they won the Premier League and the Champions League.

Van Dijk and Mane shared a dressing room at the Merseyside club for four seasons and won six trophies together. The two were scheduled to meet in the FIFA World Cup with the Netherlands and Senegal both drawn in Group A.

Mane has scored 11 goals and provided four assists in 23 games for Bayern Munich since joining the Bavarian giants this summer. He finished second to Karim Benzema in Ballon d’Or voting and will be a huge miss in the FIFA World Cup.

---

Liverpool have seven players in the FIFA World Cup while Bayern Munich have a whopping 16 players

Liverpool have seven representatives in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Ibrahima Konate, Darwin Nunez and Virgil van Dijk are all the Liverpool players involved.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, have an incredible 16 representatives in the World Cup. There are seven Bayern Munich players in the German playing XI alone.

Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Muller, Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala have been called up for Die Mannschaft.

France have four Bayern players in the form of Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Hernandez and Kingsley Coman.

They further have Alphonso Davies (Canada), Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco), Josip Stanisic (Croatia), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Cameroon) and Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands).