Liverpool looks to have saved itself the embarrassment of seeing its three most important players leave on free transfers this summer.
It’s been a relatively tough few weeks for the Reds, with losses in the Champions League quarter-final and the Carabao Cup final, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s looking pretty rosy right now for the Premier League leader.
Arne Slot’s men are on the brink of top-flight glory, and Sunday’s loss to Fulham feels like a distant memory after it emerged on Wednesday that Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are set to extend their contracts at Anfield.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure is a blow, but if the Reds were to lose any of those three players, Alexander-Arnold would probably be one that they would pick, despite his age. Conor Bradley has emerged as a viable first-team alternative to Alexander-Arnold over the last year or so; viable alternatives to Van Dijk and Salah, Liverpool does not have.
By keeping hold of Salah and Van Dijk, Liverpool puts off the issue that will eventually arise of having to replace two of its most influential players of the Premier League era.
It’s already set to be a busy window, with new additions at right-back and left-back expected, while the club is also likely to enter the market for a new striker to replace Darwin Nunez, who will surely be sold after three underwhelming years on Merseyside.
So, a potentially expensive summer lies in wait as it is, and were Liverpool to be facing the prospect of having to replace Van Dijk and Salah as well, that would leave the Reds potentially looking for five new first-team players ahead of the 2025-26 season.
(Image: Getty Images)
That would have been a huge overhaul that, as well as costing an absolute fortune, would have had major potential to disrupt the balance of the team.
Liverpool was linked with Real Madrid star Rodrygo as a possible replacement for Salah, while Dean Huijsen of Bournemouth has been mooted as a possible long-term replacement for Van Dijk.
Rodrygo has a market value of $111 million, while Huijsen’s stands at $46 million (although the likelihood is Bournemouth would command a far higher fee), and that kind of outlay, on top of the money that is likely to be spent in the right-back, left-back and striker positions simply wouldn’t have been viable.
The Reds may well sign some younger, cheaper players with the potential to develop into stars who could replace Van Dijk and Salah in a few years’ time, but by managing to keep those two players for now, the club has taken a lot of pressure off itself, both in the transfer market and on the field.
