‘Actually quite unbelievable’: Paul Merson reacts to developing Liverpool situation; ‘fans will be angry’ | OneFootball

Liverpool, it has to be said, look very much ahead of schedule under Jurgen Klopp’s successor, Arne Slot.

The Merseysiders top the tables in England and abroad following a terrific start to the 2024/25 campaign that has seen the Dutch head coach secure 15 wins from 17 games played.

The Reds couldn’t be in a much better position coming out of the November international break. That said, there is one, or three rather, growing concern which threatens to distract the club from its goals this term.

Liverpool must address growing contract concern

(Photos by Alex Pantling & Michael Regan/Getty Images)

What on earth is going on with Liverpool’s contract situation?

As things currently stand, we’re currently 41 days (as of November 21) away from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah being able to sign pre-contract agreements with overseas outfits. Hardly a situation conducive to the club finishing the second half of the season on a high, one might reasonably conclude.

As such, we can completely understand why Paul Merson has opted to raise alarm bells on the subject.

“The contract situation at Liverpool is getting a bit nervy, isn’t it? I got this feeling that one of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah will sign a pre-contract agreement with another club in January,” the Sky Sports pundit wrote in his weekly Sportskeeda column.

“We might not see it in public, but they might just do it. If you’ve got just six months left on your contract and you get injured, what happens then? Better safe than sorry.

“I’m not sure if Van Dijk will do it, but one of the other two might. I think it could be Alexander-Arnold, especially with talk about Real Madrid as well.

“Everything is perfect at Liverpool now, so no one is talking about this situation. But if they start losing games, it could get a little bit toxic with fans calling them out. I might be wrong, but the fans will be angry, especially with someone homegrown like Alexander-Arnold if he doesn’t sign and they start losing. When you think of it, it’s actually quite unbelievable. They are probably the first three names on the teamsheet at Liverpool and yet they are out of contract in six months!”

Liverpool must wrap up at least one contract heading into December

We’ll inevitably see this contract saga drag on into December and cast an ever-growing shadow over the post-January period.

That said, we’re hopeful that Liverpool will show enough expediency in the matter to resolve at least one of the trio’s contract situations and set up a hopefully productive following month of negotiations.

If we fail on this front, it just looks like too much for Richard Hughes and his team to crack on with ahead of the January deadline.

In which case, we suspect there’s a rather strong likelihood that at least one of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Co. will secure a pre-contract agreement in the new year.

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