Liverpool fans have already had to endure myriad speculation over the futures of three crucial players whose respective contracts are all veering ominously towards their expiry.
As it stands, Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk will all be free agents in just under nine months’ time, with Arne Slot facing the prospect of losing 60% of his on-field leadership group in one fell swoop next summer.
Supporters have rightly been asking why each player’s situation hasn’t been addressed by now, especially given their ongoing importance to the team, and fan frustration is likely to be amplified by an update from a reliable journalist on all things LFC.
On Sunday night, The Times‘ Paul Joyce reported that contact has been made with the representatives of Salah, Trent and Van Dijk, but those discussions have not yet ‘found common ground’.
The report states that the situation inherited by new sporting director Richard Hughes over the summer is ‘far from ideal’ and has prompted the club to act on opening contract talks with Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah, with the latter believed to be close to striking an agreement on improved terms.
Liverpool are now less than three months away from a scenario where Salah, Trent and Van Dijk can all be approached by other clubs regarding a potential pre-contract agreement which’d see them leave Anfield on a free transfer next summer.
While it may have been understandable that Hughes’ main focus during the summer transfer window was on overseeing moves into and out of the club, the market has been shut for nearly six weeks, during which time we’d hope that discernible progress would’ve been made on prospective new deals for the aforementioned trio.
To lose one out of our fifth-highest scorer of all time, our colossal captain and our local kid turned game-changing right-back would be tough to take. To potentially lose all three would be a damning indictment of a lack of forward planning from the LFC hierarchy, who would’ve been well aware of their respective contract expiry dates.
We’d be amazed if at least a couple of Salah, Trent and Van Dijk weren’t tied down to new deals by the end of December, but that we’re now so close to that point with no sign of an immediate resolution to any of their individial scenarios will only compound supporters’ frustrations.
Let’s hope a genuine breakthrough can be made sooner rather than later.
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