Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has wished Virgil van Dijk well on his recovery after the Liverpool star was ruled out for the foreseeable future with a knee injury.
It was confirmed yesterday the Reds centre-back had sustained ACL ligament damage and would face the prospect of missing a significant chunk of the campaign.
However, the club are not yet in a position to put a timescale on his absence as he will now undergo surgery, after which his situation will be assessed again.
And Laporte, who himself missed a large chunk of last season with a knee injury, put the rivalry between both clubs aside to wish the Dutchman well.
“Sorry bro. Best of luck for the quick recovery, never neither fun nor rejoicing even as rivals,” he wrote on Twitter.
While taking to social media late on Sunday evening, Van Dijk shared a positive statement as he begins his long journey back to action.
He said: "This afternoon I met with a leading consultant to start the process of planning the finer details of my rehabilitation following the incident yesterday.
"I'm now fully focused on my recovery and will do everything I can to be back as quickly as possible.
"Despite the obvious disappointment, I'm a firm believer that within difficultly lies opportunity and with God's help I'm going to make sure I can return better, fitter and stronger than ever before.
"In football, as in life, I believe everything happens for a reason and it's important to try and keep level headed whether going through the highs or the lows.
"With the support of my wife, kids, family and everyone at Liverpool, I'm ready for the challenge ahead.
"I'd like to thank everyone for the messages of support, it's meant a huge amount to me and my family, and I'll now be doing everything possible to support my teammates in any way I can ahead of a big few weeks ahead as I take my own recovery day by day. I'll be back."
