Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk admits the players didn't want to see Sadio Mane leave last summer.

The Senegal ace was sold to Bayern Munich before the start of the new season.

"Of course Sadio was a great player for us, but he wanted to leave. It's not like we wanted to let him go," said Van Dijk.

The Dutchman, however, insists they're handling Mane's departure.

"Luis Díaz is outstanding. Darwin is slowly learning how we really want to defend from the front and how important it is when we have the ball and when we don't have it," he added.