Liverpool will head into the New Year with three unresolved contracts, but “the feeling around” the club is that Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk will sign new two-year deals.
Since the start of the season, the futures of Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been readily debated and reported on, alongside Arne Slot‘s bright start.
Liverpool have tabled contract offers to the trio but no resolution has been reached, with Salah saying in the wake of the West Ham win that an agreement remains “far away.”
But speaking to NBC Sports, reliable journalist David Ornstein offered an update on Van Dijk and Salah, saying the “feeling around Liverpool” is that they will “eventually” sign contracts.
“The suggestion that I’m getting is that it will be a two-year contract,” Ornstein reported, adding that it is what Arne Slot and sporting director Richards Hughes both “want.”
Agreements have yet to be reached, however, and the “conversations continue” as the “financial aspects” of the contracts need to be ironed out, which is what supporters have sensed all along.
And if you’re hoping for a quick resolution in early 2025, Ornstein adds, “It’s going to go on for a bit longer because I’m told that there’s nothing imminent.”
If Van Dijk and Salah were to sign new two-year deals at Anfield, the former would be turning 36 and the latter 35 when the contracts expire in June 2027.
Any update on Trent’s situation?
As for Alexander-Arnold, the situation with his deal is complicated by Real Madrid‘s serious interest, and Ornstein reports that “nothing is decided just yet.”
The Spanish press have been turning up the heat and dusting off their unsettling tactics, which will only become more tiresome after January 1 as that is when talks with clubs outside of England can take place.
There can be no definitive timeline, but Ornstein states that “In the month of January, we should see some movement – a resolution of sorts – because he’ll want to get this sorted sooner rather than later.”
