Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness has predicted Liverpool will know long before January whether Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah will sign new contracts, and reasons why the Reds have allowed the trio to enter the final year of their deals have also been put forward.
Liverpool’s all-star trio are in the final year of their respective deals at Anfield. Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Salah are world class performers and won’t lack for interest in the event they do seek a new challenge.
According to Keith Wyness – who previously served as Everton’s CEO between 2004-09 – Liverpool will wrap up agreements for whichever of the trio are set to stay long before the January window opens. Once January 1 rolls around the players will be free to sign pre-contract agreements with overseas sides.
“You’ve got to look at age and how these players develop,” Wyness told Football Insider. “Liverpool are probably thinking about going far in the major competitions this season, and how that money could balance out against future transfer fees for these three players.
“The fees won’t be that big considering they are in the final year of their contract. Maybe it was worth hanging on to them. They’ll review it during the season and see if a deal can be done that makes sense for all parties.
“We know these three will be sought-after. They can go elsewhere, so Liverpool will have to make them decent offers. But Liverpool have prioritised keeping the squad together and letting them push on and bring in money through the competitions.
“There will be ongoing discussions and if anything is coming in terms of contracts, it’ll be done before January.”
READ MORE: The key contract details of every Liverpool first-team player: Expiry dates, weekly wages, agents…
Latest on TAA to Real Madrid and Van Dijk, Salah to Saudi Arabia
Alexander-Arnold is in the prime of his career aged 26. Van Dijk (33) and Salah (32) are well into their thirties, though both have shown no signs of decline.
Real Madrid are known to admire Alexander-Arnold and news of Dani Carvajal suffering an ACL injury will heighten fears of Los Blancos upping their interest.
Reports in Spain have claimed Real Madrid have contacted Alexander-Arnold’s camp on several occasions. In the days prior to Carvajal’s injury, however, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano stressed Real Madrid were not in active negotiations for the right-back.
Van Dijk has recently emerged as a target for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli who per Caught Offside, are the club who have also opened talks with Salah’s representatives.
TEAMtalk’s understanding of the situation regarding Alexander-Arnold is Liverpool are gearing up to offer the defender a colossal new deal.
His wages will be brought in line with Salah who as it stands, is Liverpool’s top earner. In the event Salah were to leave, Alexander-Arnold would be No 1 at Anfield in the salary stakes if penning fresh terms.
Salah, meanwhile, reportedly has interest from French giant PSG as well as clubs in Saudi Arabia.
The Sun claimed on October 3 that PSG are ready to offer Salah a three-year contract. The inference in the report was a three-year deal is longer than what Liverpool are likely to put on the table.
Alonso to Man Utd? / Liverpool eye double Palace raid
In other news, a remarkable report in Spain has claimed Liverpool icon Xabi Alonso is Man Utd’s No 1 managerial option.
Elsewhere, Liverpool are said to be preparing a bid to sign Crystal Palace midfielder, Adam Wharton. If Palace’s 1-0 defeat on Saturday afternoon served as an audition for Wharton he certainly did not pass it.
The midfielder ranked 29th out of 29 players in the contest by FotMob with a match rating of 5.92. For context, Ryan Gravenberch – the man he’d battle for the starting role alongside Alexis Mac Allister – ranked as the fifth best player in the game with a rating of 7.57. Cody Gakpo, Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold took the top four spots.
Finally, Football Insider reported Arne Slot has already determined he must sign an upgrade on Dominik Szoboszlai for the No 10 position.
The player Slot has set his sights on is reportedly Crystal Palace talisman, Eberechi Eze.
Alexander-Arnold to receive huge pay rise
Salah is currently Liverpool’s top earner on a reported £350,000-a-week. As previously mentioned, Alexander-Arnold is in line to receive a pay rise that will put the right-back in Salah’s ballpark – assuming he signs on the dotted line at Anfield, of course.
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