Talks remain ongoing between Liverpool and the representatives of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold to give them new contracts.
The dialogue has, though, been very positive and has been moving forward with the negotiations held in a very respectful manner on all sides.
Liverpool want to do right by the players, but right by the club too. It has been very apparent that Salah and Van Dijk want to stay. They have been unequivocal about that, and Salah’s comments to the press actually underline that desire of how much he wants to stay at Liverpool.
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Things got heated as Kris Boyd and Paul Merson debated whether Liverpool should agree a new three-year contract with Salah
He loves the city, his daughters go to school there. He does not want to change. He wants to be a Liverpool legend and continue to smash the records he has been setting.
It is the same with Van Dijk. He wants to continue leading Liverpool forward.
‘Contrast between Salah and Van Dijk and Trent’
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Merse questions Liverpool’s delay in signing Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk to new deals, calling the hesitation ‘criminal’
The contrast is with Alexander-Arnold, who has huge interest from Real Madrid.
His comments recently about wanting to win the Ballon d’Or, that is very much singing from that Real Madrid hymnsheet – it is their sales pitch to players, to go and win it at their club.
With Alexander-Arnold it is going to take a bit more elbow grease from Liverpool.
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Liverpool manager Arne Slot insists he was joking after making a comment about Salah’s future at Anfield
It might be a lot more expensive to get that deal over the line, given his age and what he means to the club as an academy graduate as well. He would count as pure profit on the books so it is a bit more of a complex situation.
You get the sense that with Van Dijk and Salah wanting to stay, the club wanting to find a solution, there might be a lovely little Christmas present for Liverpool supporters – and that you might see Van Dijk in front of the Christmas tree again as a replica of when he first signed in December 2017.