Jurgen Klopp’s departure from Liverpool ushered in a new era at Anfield ahead of this season. While the German’s sendoff was one to remember – an emotional goodbye after eight years of service – it went under the radar that three of Liverpool’s key players have their contracts up next May. The team that is causing upsets under Arne Slot when making a bet on Premier League football could lose its core.
Captain Virgil van Dijk, Vice-captain Trent Alexnader-Arnold, and talisman Mohamed Salah could all leave the club for free at the end of the season. While deals are reportedly being negotiated between Liverpool and the three players, unbelievably it is Alexader-Arnold who looks the least likely to stay.
At the time of writing, the 26-year-old has yet to put pen to paper on what would be his biggest contract at Anfield since arriving as a boy and rising through the ranks at the academy. Having developed under Klopp as one of the best modern full-backs in the world, Alexnader-Arnold has attracted interest from some of the world’s biggest clubs — including Real Madrid.
The reigning European champions can offer Liverpool’s local lad a consistent chance of winning the Champions League, having bested the Reds in two finals in his career so far. While the La Liga title already looks off the cards this season, with Hansi Flick’s Barcelona pulling ahead, Los Blancos will still be one of the favourites to reach this season’s continental showpiece in Munich next May.
On top of this, the stars seem to be aligning for Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool departure. Madrid’s current right-back, Dani Carvajal, is set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury, while Jude Bellingham’s personal relationship with him at international level could have some influence, which would be extremely ironic given many thought the roles were reversed when the two went to the 2022 World Cup – Bellingham then a Borussia Dortmund player linked with Liverpool.
There is still time for the Reds to act. Madrid can’t legally talk to anyone until January, giving Slot the chance to try and tie his star men down to new deals. However, the Dutchman has been reluctant to reveal any more details on the future of any of his players, but the club’s good form in the league and Europe has alleviated some of that pressure to speed things up.
“For me, the contract situation could become a problem if the players don’t perform as well as they do at the moment, although then it’s also not sure that IF they don’t perform as good anymore that it has anything to do with their contract situation,” Slot said. “At the moment, all three of them are in a good place, they all perform really, really well, and there are ongoing discussions between, what Virgil said, the people he had to talk with. And that’s not me, as you know!”
Salah is set to be the first player to commit his future to the Reds, set to agree to two more seasons at Liverpool as he pursues more goalscoring records, but for Alexander-Arnold, it’s difficult to gauge where his head is at.
Your career as a professional footballer is short, and it is important to try new things and experience a new environment, but the club has given him everything and helped him to develop into one of the best players in his position.
If Liverpool were in a period of transition, the move would be understandable, but with Slot’s side a serious contender for the title, it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.
