Liverpool are likely to at least resolve the contract situations of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk in the coming months, Reds expert David Lynch has claimed.
The Merseysiders were beaten 2-1 by Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon at Wembley in the EFL Cup final, with Federico Chiesa scoring a consolation goal in second-half stoppage time.
However, manager Arne Slot can have few complaints with the scoreline given the victors created the most threatening chances, while the Reds rarely troubled goalkeeper Nick Pope.
With the final out of the way, Lynch told Sports Mole that full attention can turn to the contract situations of the three stars out of contract without distracting from the rest of the league season, saying: “The Carabao Cup final is out of the way this weekend so surely this time, [contract talk] is not taking anyone’s focus away from anything.
“It’d be nice to know whether you’re going to need to replace the best forward in the world and the best centre-back in the world – I remain optimistic that they will get solved particularly, those two because they want to stay. Liverpool know how good they are and will want to keep them. I think they will get resolved.”
Liverpool lead second-placed Arsenal by 15 points in the Premier League, and it would be surprising if contract speculation led to the Reds losing their advantage considering there are only nine matchweeks left to play.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold has long been linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, and he has so far not stated his desire to stay at Anfield unlike Salah and Van Dijk.
The Reds looked devoid of creativity against the Magpies on Sunday without the right-back’s creativity, and his absence from the team next season could be particularly damaging.
Lynch emphasised that there is still a possibility that Alexander-Arnold stays at Liverpool and encouraged fans to avoid being drawn into speculation, telling Sports Mole: “It’s been slow progress – not a lot has really happened in regard to that at the moment. We spoke to Virgil van Dijk in the mix zone and he said even [he does not] know what will happen next year.
“If anyone says that they do know what’s happening they’re lying to you so it shows that that uncertainty is still there. I know there’s been a lot of theories doing the rounds that Salah and van Dijk are wrapped up and it’s being kept quiet – that’s never been the case, and Van Dijk is saying it there himself. There’s still work to be done to get those sorted.
“Trent is just a question of if he wants that experience [at Real Madrid] or not, so that’s up to him and we don’t know which way that’s going to go.”
Alexander-Arnold has stated that he does not wish for his contract negotiations to be played out in a public manner, so it is difficult to say whether he will leave given the lack of information.
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Why Liverpool need to know who’s staying
Should any of the trio depart the club in the summer, Liverpool will undoubtedly need to delve into the transfer market to replace them and doing so could prove expensive.
However, the performances from players such as Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota have concerned fans and some believe that the team will need reinforcements regardless of whether Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold stay at Anfield.
Lynch argued that the sooner the contract situation is resolved – whatever the outcome – the better positioned the club will be to prepare for the future.
Lynch told Sports Mole: “To get this sorted out – it would be nice to have that boost going into next season to get these wrapped up because I’m not saying that the mood’s down or that it doesn’t need lifting, but it just gives that certainty in terms of what Liverpool need going into this summer, because we do expect changes regardless [of whether they stay].
“If Liverpool can get two of the three done it just makes their job easier coming into the summer in terms of what that looks like, so nothing to report on that as Virgil van Dijk has said, but we’ll see and hopefully [there is] a little bit more focus on that now and they can get it sorted.”
Slot only made one signing in his first summer as boss, but with the team arguably needing several additions to fulfil their potential under the Dutchman, the upcoming transfer window could prove to be significantly more hectic than the previous two.
