"It's over for Liverpool" - FSG given BRUTAL Saudi warning over Salah and Van Dijk

“It’s over for Liverpool.” Those words carry weight. This week transfer talk has ramped up regarding all three of Liverpool’s soon-to-be out-of-contract stars.

It’s no secret at this stage of the game that Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk all have terms which expire in summer 2025.

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And once the calendar clicked over to January 1, all three were entitled to commence negotiations about a pre-contract agreement with any potentially interested overseas teams.

Accordingly, Real Madrid have been hot on Trent’s trail with the transfer drum beating ever louder in the Spanish press. What will be will be in the case of Trent.

Salah might have come close to leaving Liverpool once before for Saudi Arabia in summer 2023 but the Reds knocked back Al Ittihad’s £130m+ attempts to sign him. But now it is looking ever more likely that the Saudi Public Investment Fund will get its way and land Salah on a money-spinning contract.

It’s Al-Hilal reported to be the destination and Saudi media has been alive with chatter that talks have ramped up this week. Day after day, there have been stories compiled suggesting that a deal was close, a contract agreed and the move a formality.

And in one such story was placed the above quote. Khalid Qinan, a journalist at the Saudi newspaper Okaz, spoke to Mega FM this week and claimed Salah had already agreed to represent Al Hilal.

But he didn’t stop there.

“Salah will not be the only one joining Al Hilal; his Dutch teammate Virgil van Dijk has also agreed to join the club.”

What?

And then came the coup de grace.

“It’s over for Liverpool.”

Al Hilal in the driving seat

Did Qinan mean Liverpool had given up? That they could no longer compete? This is the risk the Reds ran when they allowed the contracts to reach their six-month countdown.

Sporting director Richard Hughes began his term at the club fixated at the idea of renewing Alexander-Arnold’s contract above all and it later transpired that adding fresh terms for Salah and Van Dijk were the only other items on his to-do list.

But autumn came and nothing happened. Then winter came. And still fans waited for white smoke.

By the time it reached January fans were still optimistic that Salah and Van Dijk - at least would be signing new deals. It was reported that Van Dijk’s renewal was a formality, barring a bizarre late hitch.

Is that what has happened?

We have reached a stage where Al-Hilal appear to be in the driving seat for Liverpool’s two highest earners - and two most important players.

So is it over? Is there anything Liverpool can do?

If it’s a matter of money, probably not. It is estimated that Salah will earn a new world record sum for a football player - outearning Cristiano Ronaldo in the Kingdom. You can bet Van Dijk hasn’t been offered a pay-cut out there either.

It’s not like Richard Hughes doesn’t know how good these players are; he has clearly been given a budgetary framework to operate in and he cannot get the deals done for the money provided.

What can Liverpool offer?

We know about Liverpool’s financial black hole. We know the toll missing out on Champions League football last season took on the balance sheet. We know that Salah is comfortably outearning every other Liverpool player.

And we know that these three are eating up the playing budget, that their presence in the squad means everyone else due for a renewal will have bumper pay increases on their minds.

FSG either can’t - or won’t - give them the deals they want, nor for the duration they want either.

And so the club - and fans - are absolutely powerless to prevent what is seemingly about to transpire.

Unless these players can be convinced by something other than a baseline salary. A heavy bonus-led deal? One year plus an option? Who knows.

But maybe, just maybe, the idea of competing for top trophies appeals to these stars who are still FAR too good to be thinking about winding down their careers. And if they leave it’s going to be much harder for Arne Slot to keep his team competitive. That's all we've got.

Alas, If they don’t stump up the cash, then someone else will.

Is it over for Liverpool? Maybe not right now, but the Reds are running out of rounds.

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