Liverpool face some tough calls in the near future with five senior players set to fall out of contract at the end of the season
Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker of Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker of Liverpool(Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
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Say hello to the new transfer headache. Same as the old transfer headache.
The window may have just closed on Tuesday evening but already thoughts are turning to what might happen in January and next summer.
And there's an issue with which Liverpool have grown all too knowledgeable in recent times that is once more glaringly apparent.
Having seen Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and, most unexpectedly, Ibrahima Konate all walk away from the club on a free transfer in recent months, the Reds are in danger of losing another raft of senior squad members in a similar fashion at the end of this season.
With all in their 30s by the time their contracts expire - it recently emerged Harvey Elliott remains under contract until 2028 - decisions over which to attempt to keep and those the club will happily allow to depart aren't as alarming as may have been expected.
Nevertheless, there will be some tough calls, chief of which regards goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
Despite Liverpool triggering their option to extend Alisson's contract by 12 months towards the end of last season, there had been an expectation the Brazil international could leave this summer with Juventus his most likely destination.
That failed to materialise, instantly prompting doubt over the future of deputy Giorgi Mamardashvili. The Georgian, though, remains at Liverpool, with the situation complicated further by the Reds committing £30m to sign teenage goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans from Genk next year.
It may well be that the decision comes down to Alisson and whether he wants to pursue another chapter in his career given he will be approaching 35 this time next year.
Then there is the centre-back duo of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez Club skipper Van Dijk remains a regular starter but will be 36 at the beginning of next season and has inevitably shown signs of age catching up with him. His experience, though, will surely be a reason Liverpool will want to keep him on and help influence a defence in which 21-year-old Jeremy Jacquet and 19-year-old Giovanni Leoni are being primed as the future.
Gomez, meanwhile, is Liverpool's longest-serving player, but has found game time difficult in recent years due to untimely injury and the form of other players.
His departure would be less surprising, so too that of left-back Kostas Tsimikas and defensive midfielder Wataru Endo. The primary issue for the Reds with the trio, then, is all three would need replacing.
Further down the line, with Rio Ngumoha expected to pen a new deal shortly, it would leave Elliott, Alexis Mac Allister, Federico Chiesa and currently injured goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros as having just entered the final two years of their deal.
Mac Allister is the only first-team regular of recent seasons and could prompt a transfer decision similar to that of Curtis Joness this summer. Different year, same problem.