Why Liverpool's contract MESS is even WORSE than people realise

Liverpool are in a bit of a contract pickle.

Yes, they could lose three of their best players in the summer for nothing.

At the time of writing, none of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk or Trent Alexander-Arnold look close to putting pen to paper on a new deal at Anfield. It could well change, but with the trio able to speak to new clubs in January over potential free transfers away from Merseyside, the Reds aren’t exactly in a position of strength right now.

That is bad enough. But with the focus being on those three players, everything else has gone under the radar. And this is where things get even worse.

The revolving Sporting Director’s door at Anfield has resulted in this shambles.

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Why the contract mess?

Michael Edwards initially walked away and was replaced by Julian Ward. His stint in charge lasted a few months before he handed in his notice. Jorg Schmadtke was hired on an interim basis as support for Jurgen Klopp before Richard Hughes was headhunted by Edwards.

With such upheaval behind the scenes, player admin has been neglected.

After all, who is going to be handling player renewals and why would players even want to sign their long-term futures to the club when they don’t know what the long-term looks like? For a period last season, nobody had a clue who the Sporting Director would be or who would succeed Klopp as manager.

So Liverpool now find themselves in an unenviable position of having to sort out a lot of contracts in a short space of time, all while making some big decisions.

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2026: Reds already behind the curve

For example, Ibrahima Konate, Andrew Robertson and Caoimhin Kelleher are all out of contract in 2026. Talks should be well under way now with that trio. In fact, if they weren’t being renewed, a stable club would’ve likely looked to cash in on them last summer while their value remained high. With just 12 months left on their deals, and that is going to be the case at the end of the summer, their value will have taken a significant hit, weakening Liverpool’s ability to sell well.

It also weakens Liverpool’s ability to negotiate with these players. Agents know the Reds might need to replace Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk this summer. They aren’t going to want to have to replace, say, Konate as well. Meaning his agent can look for a better deal with this leverage. Chaos presents some people with an opportunity. The smart ones will look to maximise this opportunity and this could cost the 2019/20 Premier League champions. Literally.

2027: More trouble ahead

The summer of 2027 is even more daunting for the Reds though.

Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones, Alisson Becker, Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas are all out of contract.

Now should be the time these players are having contract talks with the Reds. Now should be the time Liverpool are building out a picture of how their squad will look.

They can’t be doing that though. Not with so much attention being given to Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk. Not without knowing what is going on with those three. Because there’s a possibility Salah and Van Dijk, if they pen extensions, could be out of contract again during that summer.

There’s a possibility that the Reds need to reshape their attack in 2027 if Salah departs. It’ll likely need reshaping then anyway with both Jota and Diaz turning 30 during the 2026/27 campaign. It is unlikely they’ll be renewed then if they haven’t been already.

The longer they wait, the more difficult these negotiations are. Liverpool aren’t going to want to pay a 28-year-old £9million per year for the next four years. It would be viewed as a risk, especially in the case of Jota with his many, many injuries during this time on Merseyside. But that is a possible scenario if the Reds don’t open talks with the Portugal international sooner rather than later.

If Bradley is succeeding Alexander-Arnold as the starting right-back, you ideally want to be giving him a new deal now to ensure he’s not in a position of strength during key negotiations. Waiting for 12 months now could see the landscape shift dramatically, for example. If he’s shining as a starter in the Premier League, his demands will be, rightly, higher than they are now while he’s a back-up to the No66.

The mess with Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold is having an impact on everybody else and the six-time champions of Europe could suffer, both in the short term and the long-term. It is bad now but if things aren’t handled swiftly, it’ll be a lot worse in the future.

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