Former Liverpool player Joe Cole believes Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah will follow Trent Alexander-Arnold out of the Anfield exit door this summer.
The March international break was dominated by the news that Alexander-Arnold is set to snub a new contract at Liverpool in order to join Real Madrid on a free transfer.
Alexander-Arnold, 26, is one of three key players whose deals are due to expire on June 30, with Van Dijk and Salah also set to become free agents as thing stand. While it has seemed for some time as though Alexander-Arnold is more likely to leave than Van Dijk and Salah, Cole thinks all three players will ultimately end up departing.
He told Paddy Power: “The Liverpool board running down the contracts of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah is a risky strategy, but we’re not aware of the full picture. We don’t know if Liverpool can afford to keep all three players and give them new contracts, especially with the constraints of Financial Fair Play, but I do feel that all three will leave at the end of the season.
“We don’t know why the board have done this – maybe it’s because they needed to rebuild financially – but it’s difficult to criticise them as we don’t know what they were trying to achieve.
“I would say that it’s a massive blow for Liverpool, but it’s also a massive opportunity for them to go out and buy three new young players. This is a great opportunity for their recruitment team to go and find the next Salah, Van Dijk and Trent.”
(Image: 2025 Malcolm Couzens)
Van Dijk’s comments after Liverpool’s loss to Fulham on Sunday suggest that Cole’s prediction that all three players will leave is wide of the mark.
The Liverpool captain told reporters in the Craven Cottage mixed zone that progress has been made in renewal talks. “There is progress, yeah,” he said. Pushed on the details of those talks and whether he’ll stay beyond the end of the season, the Dutchman said: “I don’t know, we’ll see. These are internal discussions and we’ll see.”
“I love the club and I love the fans,” he added, in another comment that could be positively construed by supporters. “Today, as well, they were there for us. Unfortunately, we couldn’t reward them. But I want them to be there Sunday again [against West Ham United] and make the stadium an amazing venue, like always for us.”
Salah, meanwhile, has not spoken publicly about his future for several months, which might worry some supporters. The 32-year-old, who has not scored a goal from open play in any of his last seven appearances for Liverpool, continues to be linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League.
