Liverpool transfers: Reds set for salary reset due to Salah, Van Dijk and Trent costs

Liverpool, as things stand, are set to lose Virgil Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold for nothing at the end of the season. The influential trio are in the final 12 months of their contracts and nothing appears to be imminent. 

Both Van Dijk and Salah have implied they would like to remain at Anfield, but contract talks have yet to be forthcoming at the time of writing. Alexander-Arnold’s response when asked about his future was somewhat ambiguous.

Read more: Deeney says Arne Slot sending Trent Alexander-Arnold contract message

At a glance, this shouldn’t be a difficult task for the 2019/20 Premier League champions. If all three players are open to staying with the club, you simply give them whatever they want to make it happen. In the eyes of many, it really is that simple.

In reality, these are difficult negotiations.

The Salah conundrum was dissected last week. The pros and cons of giving Van Dijk an extension have been analysed to death while you could debate all day over whether Alexander-Arnold is worthy of money usually assigned to world-class attackers.

But there’s more to it than that.

Liverpool's Salah contract gamble

Liverpool have a fairly strict salary structure. They shattered it in 2022 when they gave Salah a new contract, but, given his exploits, he was treated as an exception and few could have complaints. If reports are to be believed, the three-time Golden Boot winner is on £350,000-per-week before bonuses are factored in.

The decision to extend his deal was a gamble. He could’ve hit a physical wall and declined similarly to many other Liverpool players from that Jurgen Klopp era. He didn’t, though. Across the two full seasons since, the No11 has 37 goals and 22 assists. He’s chipped in with three goals and three assists in three outings so far this term.

In contract talks, he’ll no doubt make the point that his output hasn’t taken a hit and neither should his pay. He should be rewarded for his past performances. The club, however, will appreciate what he’s done but they’ll be more bothered about what he might do in the future. They’ll use their models to predict what he might achieve and look to compensate him accordingly to ensure there is value for money.

Why should Van Dijk take a pay cut?

The same goes for Van Dijk, the club’s second-highest earner, believed to be pocketing £220,000-per-week. He’s now the skipper and still one of the best in the world, why would he want to take a pay cut when this could well be his last contact in football?

Alexander-Arnold is a little different. At 25, this is going to be his last contract and Liverpool can be a little more lenient in their approach. They won’t be solely reliant on looking to predict what he might do with the club when weighing up what sort of money he should be earning. Instead, they’ll likely be more open to rewarding him for his performances to date.

He’s been promoted to vice-captain since his last contract renewal and with a renewal, he’s the most valuable asset in the squad. The No66 is going to want parity with Van Dijk, at the bare minimum, and if his representatives weren’t pushing that, they wouldn’t be doing their job properly.

Can Liverpool afford all three renewals?

There’s a very real possibility that Liverpool end up with three players earning an average of around £300,000-per-week if Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold renew. The club are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The trio deserve those sorts of contracts but can they afford to make this sort of thing the norm?

Those three could well be on double what the fourth-highest earner is on. According to various outlets, Alisson Becker, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister are taking home £150,000-per-week. Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Dominik Szobolazi and Cody Gakpo are on between £120,000-£140,000-per-week.

Ibrahima Konate, someone turning out to be a key player for Arne Slot, is on just £70,000-per-week while Luis Diaz is believed to be on a base-rate of £55,000-per-week.

Liverpool set for salary reset

Those players, and their agents, will be keeping a close eye on what is going on with Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk. If Liverpool renew that trio, it’ll cost them a small fortune as everyone else will be eyeing up an improved deal. And that is what makes this situation so difficult for the Reds.

This is why a salary reset could well be on the cards at Anfield. It’d allow the club, and the new higher-ups, the opportunity to control things again. If the three highest earners depart and the salary cap ceiling is £150,000-per-week, the Reds can be stronger in negotiations.

When Jurgen Klopp was first appointed, new first-team signings used to make £90,000-per-week, at most. Now, new arrivals are coming in on £120,000-per-week or more.

This could be make or break for the wage structure. Either Liverpool start over again and have a strict salary cap, as was the case during Michael Edwards’ first spell with the club, or they embrace this and accept the fact their wage bill is going to spiral in the short-term while they tie key players down.