Who has the power?
When we look at Liverpool coming towards the end of this season, they have 3 huge players coming to the end of their contracts. As they are in great position to win the Premier League this season, you would think that if they were to lose all 3 players, they have no chance of being in the same position next season. Defenders Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold plus star man Mohamed Salah are all out of contract at the end of the 2024/25 season. My first thought is, there’s no way Liverpool can afford to lose all 3 players if they want to keep up with the competition at the top in England and in European competitions.
In all honesty, I think all 3 players are waiting to see what the others are going to be offered, so it may help them in negotiating more on their own deal. For example, if Trent or Van Dijk get offered £400,000 per week, then Mo Salah comes to the club saying he should be paid more and he wants to be the highest earner at the club. As a result, I think it's possible 2 out of 3 may leave Liverpool in the summer. I hope this doesn’t happen. I have no connection with Liverpool football club, yet I feel it will weaken the Premier League and I want as many world class players playing in the league as possible.
All 3 players are treated differently by the fans. Of course, if you are a Liverpool fan you want all 3 to renew their contracts. Why wouldn’t you? I think it gets tricky and splits opinion, if you asked Liverpool fans to choose only 1 or 2 out of 3 to resign.
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Are Liverpool Going to Lose All 3?
I think Van Dijk has been treated very well by the Liverpool fans and will be in the time during the negotiation stages of the new contract extension. The Dutchman will be seen as a vital part of why Liverpool were able to win the Premier League and the Champions League, along with the signing of goal keeper Alisson Becker. The signing of both players was immediately evident in the team’s performances and what the team won since their arrivals. Also with VVD’s leadership on and off the pitch, I think he is irreplaceable and arguably the best centre back in the world right now. If not the best, definitely top 3. His current salary is £220,000 per week. The second highest at the club after Mohamed Salah.
Trent Alexander Arnold is a different kettle of fish compared to the other two mentioned, as he is a home grown talent and came through the academy system. He joined the club at just 6 years old and has represented the club at U16, U18 and is now vice-captain of the first team. The scouser in the team. The fans will expect him to respect the club being a fellow scouser. They will see it as the club comes first and you as a player should feel the ultimate privilege to play for this club as you are from this city. If Trent is offered a contract he should sign it and be happy he has been offered an extension to play for his club. These feelings go deep into the city of Liverpool and are not only the thoughts of people from Liverpool but every city in the UK.
Home grown talent are given a slightly different ride than players who are brought in. Don’t even think of joining a rival club. Even if it’s not a rival club but a club that plays in the same league, the player can be given a hostile reception when returning to their club. You don’t see it too much any more but there use to be quite a few one club players. Players like Steven Gerrard, Gary Kelly or Tony Adams. Even out of the UK you had players like Paolo Maldini, Francesco Totti or Carlos Puyol and many more. Players who only played for one club or played the vast majority of their playing career at one club.
Even though Trent Alexander-Arnold is Liverpool's third highest earner; with a salary of £180,000 per week; I don’t think Liverpool fans will have as much patience with the scouser as the other two players.
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Mo Salah, Running Down the Wing.
Mohamed Salah is having the season of all seasons. I'm writing this after Liverpool have played 29 games in the Premier League. Top of the league; after beating Southampton 3-1 at home; by 15 points and an inferior goal difference. The closest teams Arsenal and Nottingham Forest do have a game in hand yet that still effectively puts them 13 points behind if they win their game in hand. Effectively because of Liverpool’s inferior goal difference.
Earlier in the season, Salah did come out and do a few public interviews. It was spoken quite a bit by pundits on Sky Sports Football. He was obviously trying to force the hand of the Liverpool board. As he is lauded by the Liverpool fans for the performances and the stats he has produced over the last 7 or 8 seasons. After signing for Liverpool from Fiorentina in 2017 he has always seemed to produce great numbers and always been in and around the golden boot for the Premier League. He could have done the public interviews to get more fans on his side. I don't think he's threatening, yet a big part of me thought he was putting it out there that if he's not given a deal that he likes, he will move on. Maybe he was also putting himself in the "shop window" and trying to get the attention of other clubs, that he might be available at the end of the season on a Bosman.
I think a great way for this to all defuse would be to make the negotiations public. Why wouldn't they? A lot of fans will literally think, "Pay him what he wants. He's one of the best in his position in the world. His stats this season show that, and how much would it cost to get a player like him to replace him?" If the negotiations were out there for the public to see, the fans would see who was in the wrong and who to support. For example, if the club are seen to be not giving the Egyptian a good enough deal in the current climate of salaries, the fans will see that and back their player. However, lets say Liverpool have offered Salah stupid money and are willing to make him the top earner in the league, and he's still not signing, I think the fans would realise it is not the clubs fault.
The way it looks like the club is run in terms of money spent on player fees and salaries doesn't look too shabby. I don't see Liverpool as a club that throw a load of money at the wall and see how much will stick. They never seem to be scrambling in transfer windows and it seems like recently there's not many players that are bought for astronomical prices that don't work out. Players like Andrew Robertson, Wataru Endo and Sadio Mane were all brought in for quite small fees and had great years at the club. Also, the academy seems to bring through good prospects every now and again. Players like full back Conor Bradley and midfielders Harvey Elliot and Curtis Jones it can save the club millions.
From afar it seems like the club has structure and a plan on how they are going to do things. It seems that they have guidelines and as if they have caps on how much they are willing to spend and make sure it makes sense. A year or two ago when Jude Bellingham was leaving Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool could have easily slapped down an offer of well over £100 million. Whether it would have been accepted and whether Jude would have wanted to sign for Liverpool is a different story. Obviously they weren't willing to spend that amount of money on one player when they were losing central midfielders Fabinho, James Milner and Jordan Henderson at a very similar time. They needed to fill the whole in the middle of the pitch and instead of panicking and making a rash decision to buy they waited for the right player(s) at the right price for them.
It looks like the club has a structure, a way of spending money and a financial plan that they don't break. In my opinion this is one of the very rare moments that you could break what you plan. Replacing Mo Salah and to replicate what the team are doing this season, next season is highly highly unlikely. Now we have seen a few clubs recently sell their star man that scores all the goals; Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, Dominic Solanke; and the teams have kicked on and done well. Even outside of the Premier League. For example, PSG look a much better team now they don't have a Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi or Neymar type star figure. It's as if other players have now been able to step up now they are no longer in the shadows of a poster boy. These teams have sort of shown that losing your star player isn't always the worst thing that could happen. However, these teams aren't competing for the Premier League, Champions League and basically every tournament available in domestic football.
The more I think about it, my opinion on the situation swings. On one hand if Salah puts pen to paper, Liverpool are more than likely breaking their financial structure but if you're going to do that, you're going to do it for a player like Salah. The winger is obviously going to be near impossible to replace. This season he has scored 27 goals and got 17 assists after 29 games. He is having a season where he's breaking a lot of personal, club and Premier League records, yet he may be thinking, "Leave while I'm on top." A lot of players can continue for a year or two too long and ruin how they are remembered. This happens not just in football but all sport. There's some chance that the Egyptian breaks all records this season, signs a new contract and then next season has quite a dip and doesn't perform any where near what he has done this season. I don't expect him to repeat the numbers of this season anyway but it could be that he drops off a long way. I don't think it will happen but I've seen it before where players have a flyer on their contract renewal season and then drop off once they've sign their new lucrative deal.
Honestly, deep down, I think the deal is done. Romeo done. I think it has been agreed, signed and this is all a publicity stunt. In todays world there's so much emphasis on clicks and views and doing things just to create and generate more attention. At the start of the season; or even as far back as last season; people would be realising this is the last season of Mo Salah's contract. The talks around pundits, media and fans would have started and this season it has amplified; maybe because of the numbers he's producing. I think it has turned into a soap drama and it has brought in even more attention. It will build and build, until all that has to be done is the release of the information that "Mohamed Salah has signed a new 2 year deal with Liverpool club." Blah Blah Blah. When it is eventually released, and the news drops that this seasons top goal scorer has signed, it will explode all over the internet and create quite a revenue in clicks and views. The tactic is a good one. Maybe not great for the blood pressure of most Liverpool fans but great for the publicity of the player and the club. And remember, all publicity is good publicity.
Just my honest opinion on the whole subject. Like I said, I have no connection to Liverpool Football Club nor am I a fan of one of their major rivals. I neither like them or dislike them, I think this makes me pretty neutral in the subject and for me when it comes to it football is the winner.
And Long Live Sir Billy Connolly!
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