Among the many reasons why Liverpool fans have taken an instant shine to Arne Slot is his unflappable nature.
It feels like since the moment he stepped foot on Merseyside, he has faced questions over the futures of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah. In fact, given the sheer amount of games Liverpool has to play, Slot is getting close to having to answer those questions on a daily basis.
That would be enough to drive plenty of other managers up the wall, and no doubt one or two might have snapped back by now. Not Slot though, who knows just how to handle the situation, as made evident by his latest response.
breakthroughs] then it’s probably not the moment to tell you now,” Slot told reporters following the win over Leicester on Boxing Day.
“Keep asking, that’s your job, but you’re probably not going to get an answer from me. It’s clear that from 1 January, maybe for you guys (media), things change a lot but they are in constant talks with the club and let’s wait and see what happens. As long as they keep performing like this, the head coach is happy.”
Of course Slot is happy. Why wouldn’t you be when your side is six points clear at the top of the Premier League, all but in the last-16 in the Champions League, and potentially just 180 minutes away from a Wembley final?
Fans are equally delighted with the situation on the pitch. Off the pitch though, we don’t quite share Slot’s zen-like calmness.
Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Salah are critical to Liverpool’s success. Letting just one of them go for free would be a huge misstep from FSG – losing all three for nothing would be unforgivable.
Fortunately, it does feel – from the outside looking in at least – like progress is being made with two of those players. The validity of recent reports suggesting Van Dijk and Salah have already agreed to new deals is questionable, but it does feel like the pair might be edging toward a positive resolution, even if it is just over a month since the latter admitted to being “more out than in”.
All the noises coming out about the pair gives encouragement to Liverpool fans. The same cannot be said about Alexander-Arnold though, and the fear that the Reds are going to lose one of their own is becoming all too real.
We’re just four days away from the start of 2025, and January is set to be a significant month in the future of Liverpool’s vice-captain. He will be free to speak to any foreign club he chooses, and negotiate a pre-contract agreement while he’s at it – and we all know which club will be front of the queue.
Generally, when Real Madrid comes calling, it gets what it wants. The fact that Alexander-Arnold has been considerably less vocal on his future than Van Dijk or Salah is a major worry for supporters – Salah may have rubbed Jamie Carragher up the wrong way, but at least fans knew where he stood.
There seems to be a growing consensus that we’re watching Alexander-Arnold’s final few months as a Liverpool player. As much as we’d like to disagree with the likes of Roberto Martinez, it does feel like a move to Madrid beckons.
Here’s hoping I and many others are wrong. Unlike Slot though, we might not be so calm once January rolls around.
