Liverpool’s key players in the team, including Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, are entering the final year of their contracts.
With less than six months already remaining, it is time for each of them to be able to negotiate with other clubs without permission from the club.
As for Salah and Van Dijk, they are said to want to stay at Anfield, while Alexander-Arnold is torn between interest from Real Madrid and remaining at Liverpool.
Although neither player has agreed a deal, former Liverpool forward Stan Collymore has theorised that in terms of defence, the loss would be greater if the Dutch defender left than the England defender.
“Looking at probabilities, I’d say there’s a 90% chance Van Dijk stays, around 60% for Salah, and a 50/50 chance for Alexander-Arnold — bizarrely, because he’s the Scouser! But when you’ve won everything with your boyhood club, as Trent has, a move abroad becomes tempting.”
“Trent isn’t a great defender, but he’s a fantastic footballer, and a league like La Liga would suit him perfectly. Real Madrid would allow him to drift into midfield, have more time on the ball, and play to his strengths. If he goes there, you couldn’t begrudge him — it’s Real Madrid.”
“If Liverpool were to lose Trent, they could find a right-back who gets into attacking positions, so I wouldn’t say his departure would be a huge loss. The bigger issue would be losing Van Dijk. Van Dijk won’t want to cause problems — he just wants the right deal — but Liverpool need to prepare for the future. They should be getting someone like Jarell Quansah up to speed, but there are still question marks over him.”
William Hill