Phil Thompson has echoed the thoughts of many a Liverpool supporter with a public warning to those in power at Anfield.
A strong pre-season under Arne Slot has created a positive narrative around the Reds, although the lack of incoming transfer activity so far this summer has left a lot of fans unamused.
There’s also the considerable matter of three key players who are now into the final year of their current contracts – Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk.
Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, Thompson voiced his concerns that those crucial deals haven’t yet been sorted, for all the positivity of the past couple of weeks.
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The 70-year-old said: “[Salah] seems invigorated now and it’s all wonderful, but he’s not signed a contract. Trent’s not signed a contract. Virgil van Dijk’s not signed a contract. These are three big players we can ill afford, with our finances, to allow to go for nothing at the end of the season.
“Big decisions have got to be made with Mo, with Trent, with Virgil, because when you’re budgeting in your finances for your club, you’ll have these prices, a certain price.
“Now, if they’re going for nothing at the end of next season, it’s a massive [loss], so I still think decisions with one or two of them, big decisions have still got to be made.”
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While we’ve heard plenty of indications over the summer that all three players would be happy to stay on at Liverpool beyond June 2025, the ongoing uncertainty as to their futures must be tormenting Reds fans.
It’s not until January that other clubs can approach the trio about possibly signing a pre-contract for next season, but surely the Anfield hierarchy will want to get the matter resolved well before then.
As Thompson points out, it’d be lunacy to allow Salah, Trent or Van Dijk leave on a free transfer, but the only way to top up the budget from parting with them would be to cash in before the end of this month, which’d be unthinkable with Slot only at the club for two months so far.
Of course there are factors other than football for the three players to consider, especially the Egyptian King and our Dutch centre-back now that they’re 32 and 33 respectively.
Many Liverpool fans will be clamouring for incoming transfer activity right up until the 30 Auugst deadline, but tying down the futures of three of our most important current players could be every bit as pivotal, if not even more so.
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