Arne Slot has promised that Liverpool will ensure it is “very strong” next season ahead of a big summer having signed Mohamed Salah up to a two-year contract extension. Virgil van Dijk is expected to follow the Egyptian in penning new terms.
With those two key men likely to extend at Liverpool, the summer is set up nicely with considerably more activity likely than was the case in 2024. During Slot’s first summer at the helm, the Italian winger Federico Chiesa was the only addition, though a deal was also agreed for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
“It’s a good message, I assume and I think,” Slot told reporters, including from the Daily Mirror, when he was asked about the influence of Salah extending. “It shows that, again, we are ambitious, and we want to keep a very good player like Mo at this club.
“We’ve worked hard — and by we, I mean the ownership (Fenway Sports Group), Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes — to achieve that. And that’s a good start for this summer, clearly…
“We have all the confidence in him that he can produce two more years than he has produced in the past seven or eight years, because of the reasons I just gave you. But also because we will make this team very strong next season. Then it’s always nice to have someone that can make a goal.”
With Salah staying, Liverpool can focus on improving areas of its team rather than trying to replace his 54 goal contributions this season (32 goals and 22 assists). And Slot and his sporting director Richard Hughes have had a full campaign to assess the existing roster.
(Image: Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“If you want to sign new players or players who want to extend here, it is always a positive to see one of our star players over the last seven or eight years has made the choice to extend his contract,” Slot added.
“It also shows maybe how ambitious this club is: not only Mo but the owners. We are really ambitious to keep performing the way this club has performed for so many years.”
Liverpool.com says: The Reds are going to need some new players in the summer and there has been long enough to plan that out. It will depend on exits to some degree, but a left-back and a number nine seem like obvious priorities.
It is in those two positions that Liverpool can most obviously improve in its starting XI. Andy Robertson has dropped off this season while Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, for different reasons, are both inconsistent.
