LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 25: Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Virgil ... \[+\] van Dijk of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Ipswich Town FC at Anfield on January 25, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool’s 2024/25 season under new manager Arne Slot has so far answered many of the questions posed at the start of the campaign, but as the end of the season approaches, with a 20th league title on the horizon, many new ones are about to be asked, not least that of whether key players Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Virgil van Dijk will remain part of the team.
It’s a question that has been festering for much of the season and has reared its head more prominently after a couple of defeats in cup competitions. Within the space of a week, Liverpool was knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain and lost the League Cup final to Newcastle United, but as much as these were disappointments for the club and its fans, these things only happen when a team puts itself in a position to be successful.
That success has manifested itself more obviously in the Premier League table where Liverpool currently sits in first place with a 12-point lead on nearest challenger Arsenal with nine games remaining.
It is here where Slot’s first season, at least so far, has been most remarkable, especially when you consider it is his first year in English football, he was taking over from a club legend in Jürgen Klopp, and most pre-season predictions had Liverpool challenging for the Champions League spots in the table rather than the league title.
There is still work to be done to secure the Premier League trophy, but there are more worrying signs that there will be much more work to be done in the summer—perhaps too much work in such a short space of time.
Despite the strong league season, there are areas for improvement in Slot’s squad, and the manager will be looking to address these going into his second season with the club.
While this current group is a good, reasonably deep squad that was suitable for the current season, these are all players that were brought in under Klopp.
The one signing made in the summer of 2024 was Federico Chiesa, and he has barely been used by Slot.
To build from a position of strength, Liverpool should be looking to bolster the spine of its team with a center-forward, central midfielder, and possibly a center-back, but certainly a left-back.
The problem is that Liverpool’s position might not be as strong come the end of the season, even before it starts moving players in and out in the transfer market.
This is because the contracts of three key players are set to expire at the end of this season and as of now there has been no movement to renew any of them.
Homegrown star Alexander-Arnold, global star Salah, and standout defender and club captain Van Dijk all have contracts that expire in June 2025.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 21: Fans hold up a banner telling FSG to give Salah, Van Dijk and ... \[+\] Alexander Arnold new contracts during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match between Liverpool FC and LOSC Lille at Anfield on January 21, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Offside via Getty Images
If the worst-case scenario happens and all three left, it will mean three more gaps in the squad that need filling, and big gaps at that given the world-class quality of each of the trio.
Should that happen, the summer transfer window goes from needing three or four players to bolster an already strong team, to needing more than half a team.
Though the club’s owner Fenway Sports Group has faith in its recruitment and squad-building process (it hired Klopp and Slot, and signed Van Dijk and Salah after all), such an overhaul can upset a team dynamic and make it difficult to retain momentum,
FSG’s methods in the transfer market have generally worked well. They could be criticized for being slow to react on some occasions, and
It’s interesting, given the current predicament, that some of the criticism is that they held on to some players from Klopp’s first great team for too long, especially some midfielders who were aging and on the decline and still playing in Klopp’s relentless, high-energy team when they were no longer suited to it.
It doesn’t feel like Van Dijk and Salah are at such a stage, however, as both are still operating at the top of the game. Salah is one of the best players in the world currently, and Van Dijk remains one of the best center-backs around. But despite this, could Liverpool’s sporting team be looking to refresh the team with younger players, even despite the importance and quality of these older players? Even if this is the case, letting contracts run down and not getting a transfer fee for such players is negligent.
Those in charge of the sporting side at Liverpool have put themselves in a difficult position. It’s one of relative uncertainty, and the players in question hold all the cards. If these contracts had been extended earlier, they would almost certainly be happy to have all three of those players into the 2025/26 season at least.
As it is, they might have no say in the matter as the players are free to choose their next clubs. Rather than approaching the summer looking to fine tune in a few areas, they might be looking at a rebuilding job which has many potential pitfalls. If Liverpool avoids those and is challenging for trophies again come 2026, it would be some achievement.