If Liverpool fail to make headway in contract talks soon, Arne Slot will be at serious risk of losing three key members of his first XI come the summer.
It’s a reality that doesn’t bear thinking about for fans who have idolised Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold for the better part of a decade.
The former Roma hotshot has certainly continued to demonstrate his ongoing value at Anfield. A whopping 20 goal contributions for the season were secured with his goal and assist against Aston Villa at the weekend as Liverpool made the most of Manchester City’s shock 2-1 defeat at the Amex Stadium.
A fitting display to back up the Kop’s very direct contract plea to the club’s owners, FSG.
Mo Salah’s agent tweet reveals a great deal
It’s difficult to speculate on how contract talks are progressing between the club and Mo Salah with the finer details so sparse.
That said, we’d argue the Egyptian’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, has offered at least an indication of why we’ve yet to see the forward put pen to paper on fresh terms.
The Colombian quote retweeted ‘Best player in the world’ in response to the Premier League X account’s graphic displaying goal involvements in the 2024/25 season.
Best player in the world. https://t.co/dA15UZevfl
— Ramy Abbas Issa (@RamyCol) November 11, 2024
Just a harmless and somewhat reasonably objective appraisal of his client’s abilities? Perhaps so.
In the general context of Salah’s ongoing contract negotiations (with his current terms set to expire in the summer of 2025), however, it’s worth at least some interrogation.
Why hasn’t Salah signed a new contract?
Liverpool will, naturally, be considering a broad array of factors in negotiations: age, injury history, and likely future performance levels among them.
On our No.11’s end, of course, Abbas Issa will argue that his client remains at least one of the globe’s top 10 stars (even if the Ballon d’Or rankings don’t reflect that view). To be fair to Salah’s agent, his current form would suggest as much.
As far as longevity is concerned, you could likewise forgive our 32-year-old’s entourage for pointing out that both his manager and skipper appear to have plenty of faith in the right winger. It just remains to be seen to what extent Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards agree.
“Physically, I can definitely see that happening [maintaining his level]. Mentally, that’s in his hands,” Virgil van Dijk told reporters (via Express).
“With certain players, you see how they keep playing at the highest level. He’s definitely one of them.”
Arne Slot later echoed that sentiment in the aftermath of Liverpool’s 4-0 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League: “They’re [Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold] really important for Liverpool and let’s see [on their contracts].”
With that in mind, it’s not beyond the realms to suggest Liverpool are facing demands that may very well exceed our top scorer’s current salary (around £350,000-a-week plus bonuses).
Only the best for the ‘best player in the world’ after all, no?
To paraphrase John Henry, what are you smoking?
Both of these should not exist in the same article:
“Mo Salah’s agent tweet reveals a great deal”
“Just a harmless and somewhat reasonably objective appraisal of his client’s abilities? Perhaps so.”
It’s not even clickbait at this point is just outright lying.
Pay them or lose them for nothing , then see how much it costs to replace them. It’s not rocket science.
MO SALAH, VIRGIL VAN DIJK , TRENT ALEXANDER
ALL THREE SHOULD BE GIVEN NEW CONTRACTS
WITHOUT A DOUBT,
Give Mo Salah(2 Year plus 1 Year),Virgil Van Dijk(2 Year plus 1 Year)And Trent Alexander Arnold(5 Year plus 1 Year))New Contract.
Salah is the best player in the world.
Do not understand why liverpool management always drags contract renewals. It is not good for everyone.
Here they have no choice. MO is irreplaceable
Mo Salah is the best in the world. He is simply
irreplaceable. You have no choice. All three should get new contracts immediately
It’s of paramount importance to renew their contracts and if liverpool lose them it will tarnish the loss image among all the fans around the world and at Liverpool itself! So please give them the best merits they deserved! Thanks from a hungry of title’s fan of Liverpool!!!
It will cost Liverpool more to replace all three if they let them go then it would have to keep them its not rocket science.