It didn’t take long for Richard Hughes to be asked about the contract situations of three players in particular at Liverpool.
Along with new head coach Arne Slot, the Reds’ recently installed sporting director faced the media for the first time in his current role on Friday morning.
He was quizzed about the futures of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah in particular, with all three now into the final year of their respective deals at Anfield.
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Hughes didn’t want to get too deep into the issue but reaffirmed that there’s ‘total commitment’ from every player at the club, saying (via liverpoolfc.com): “Contractual situations, I don’t think it would be fair for me to talk about. These are private matters between club and players.
“The only concern I have, that Arne has, about those situations and everyone else in the squad is that there is total commitment from the players to the cause for next season – and we are absolutely convinced that is the case.”
It’s understandable that Liverpool fans might be alarmed over the prospect of losing three pillars of the team on free transfers in a year’s time.
We’d be shocked if Anfield chiefs don’t make a sustained effort to try and keep each of them at the club, and if none of them are tied down to a new deal by the end of 2024, given their continuing importance to the Reds.
We’d be very confident of Trent staying on for another few years, given that he’s a local lad and still only 25, whereas we’re just hoping that Salah and Van Dijk will stay put for the time being, with the former now 32 and the latter turning 33 on Monday.
We trust that Hughes and the Liverpool board will get to work sooner rather than later on trying to secure the futures of the experienced trio.
If there’s swift progress on that front and one of them pens a new contract over the summer, it’d represent a significant early win for the new regime.
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