Uncertainty continues to surround the futures of some of Liverpool’s biggest players this summer.
The Reds have allowed themselves into a position where three of their key stars are all out of contract next year.
For Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, that position is at least in some way understandable. Both players are into their thirties and are the two biggest earners in the Liverpool squad.
In the case of the third – Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool’s failure to tie down their academy graduate and creator in chief is inexcusable.
There is a fourth player who currently has big question marks over his future, too. It remains unclear exactly how long Alisson Becker will be the Reds’ No.1.
Jamie Carragher disagrees with David Ornstein claim
Although supporters had hoped that there would have been some movement during the summer on the contracts of Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold, that is yet to happen.
In Alisson’s case, Liverpool are on the verge of signing Giorgi Mamardashvili, which really puts his long-term future up for debate.
On Friday, there have been claims from journalist James Pearce that Alisson has not told Liverpool he wants to leave, which at least clears the air on that for now.
However, speaking on The Overlap, Pearce’s colleague at The Athletic, David Ornstein, predicted that Alisson, along with Van Dijk and Salah will not sign a new contract at Anfield.
“I don’t imagine all three will renew, but that’s just a prediction,” says Ornstein, something former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher openly questioned.
“I do actually, I think they will,” countered the Liverpool legend. “There’s not many clubs and leagues better than the Premier League or better than Liverpool.
“If you have a few years left at the top level, I have always felt in England there is probably only Barcelona or Real Madrid that players move to, and I can’t really see those – certainly the older two – playing for those two clubs,” Carragher adds.
“There is a lot of talk about Trent but with him being a local player and 25, I think the club will move heaven and earth.”
Carragher prediction more in hope than expectation
While we’d love Carragher to be right about these three superstars signing on to stay with Liverpool, we can’t see how it happens.
In fairness, the Reds don’t necessarily need that to happen right away, anyway. It should be said that Alisson still has three years left on his deal.
For Van Dijk and Salah, though, it now feels unlikely that both will put pen to paper before the end of the season.
33 and 32 respectively, the pair are on huge wages that the Liverpool owners are unlikely to want to match for another extension.
In an ideal world, we’d keep all three – and Trent – on Merseyside until the day they retire. But with each passing day, the further away that dream starts to feel.
