Liverpool have still not found an agreement to extend the contracts of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
The Reds have been a very well-run club over the years, but they have somehow found themselves in a position where they could lose three of their best players for nothing.
Alexander-Arnold has agreed to join Real Madrid this summer, while although talks are ongoing with both Van Dijk and Salah, there is no resolution yet.
Questions need to be asked of FSG and the Liverpool board for the position they are in right now, but Jamie Carragher doesn’t think so.
Jamie Carragher disagrees with what Gary Neville said about FSG
Carragher, like every Liverpool fan, is disappointed about the prospect of seeing Alexander-Arnold leaving the club this summer.
The defender has been a fan-favourite at Anfield for many years now, and the fact that he is a local boy made him even more loved.
TBR Football can confirm that Liverpool made a huge offer to extend Alexander-Arnold’s contract, but that attempt is set to end in disappointment.
On the Stick to Football podcast, Ian Wright asked Carragher whether FSG are to blame for what has happened with the contracts of three of their best players.
Neville pointed the finger at the ownership, but Carragher completely disagreed.
Here’s how their conversation went…
Wright: “Jamie, what about FSG? Anything to do with FSG and the fact that they let it get to a place like this?”
Neville: “Absolutely!”
Carragher: “No, please, no, no, no. I’ve explained this. Stop it. I’ve explained this a million times.”
Neville: “Liverpool are the only club who are allowed to run their players contract down to zero, but they are still doing ok? Three of the best players in the world have got contract running out, but Liverpool are doing a great job managing that? I’m sorry, I can’t accept that.”
Carragher then claimed that Michael Edwards’ departure and Liverpool hiring Jörg Schmadtke – who he describes as ‘Jurgen Klopp’s mate’ – are the reasons why contracts were not extended.
He also added that Klopp leaving allowed Alexander-Arnold to delay contract talks.
“The Trent situation, he has definitely, as we all would, used that situation to his own advantage. ‘How can I sign? I don’t know what the new manager is like, I don’t know how successful we’ll be in the future’,” Carragher said.
Neville hit back: “I’m not having a go at the people who are there at the club now, I’m having a go at the club over the last three years not seeing three of the best players in Europe and in the world being signed up.
“You could’ve been the tea lady, the kit man at Liverpool that made the decision to keep those three and give them a new contract. You didn’t have to be the sporting director.”
Who is to blame for the contract mess at Liverpool?
Carragher definitely has a point there.
The changes at the club have been a factor in Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Salah not extending their deals.
But, the owners have to accept the blame.
Irrespective of what has happened with sporting directors and the manager, there is no way that Liverpool should’ve allowed three of their best players to run down their contracts.
Losing all of them on free transfers is a very real possibility now, and that could seriously hurt Liverpool’s chances of success next season.
