Paul Merson says Liverpool may find it hard to maintain their title challenge if they don’t resolve the contract situations of three players soon.
Captain Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah all have deals that expire at the end of the season and, writing in his Sportskeeda column, Merson said that he wouldn’t be surprised if one of them signed an agreement with another club:
“The contract situation at Liverpool is getting a bit nervy, isn’t it? I get 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.”
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.”
Merson believes there is a danger that the contract dispute with the three players could disrupt the harmony at the club:
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.”
Merson is being overly dramatic
First of all, there is no way that supporters will turn on any of these players; especially considering what they have done for the club. No matter what happens, they will be given a great sendoff whenever they leave.
Merson’s suggestion that a “toxic” atmosphere could develop at Anfield over the coming months is also far off the mark. If the club’s title challenge does falter for any reason, and the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal do make up ground, it won’t be due to off-pitch matters.
There are legitimate concerns about whether the trio will leave Liverpool
Based on the majority of reports, it seems van Dijk is the likeliest to sign on the dotted line, while Salah is clearly keen to stay if the finances are right.
The situation with Alexander-Arnold is definitely the most worrying for supporters. Everything is very quiet in terms of negotiations with there being no indication that an agreement is close. His departure for Real Madrid or another team would be a serious blow. Nonetheless, you would still back him to give his all for the rest of the campaign.
