Liverpool told to prioritise extending Trent Alexander-Arnold’s contract over Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk as Real Madrid threaten to snap up England right-back

Liverpool have had a wonderful start to life under Arne Slot as they sit pretty atop the Premier League standings. However, off the field, the Reds still have a lot of complications to deal with as they are set to see three key players’ contracts run out next summer. The main players are Van Dijk, Salah, and Alexander-Arnold.

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  While Liverpool are certain that they want to extend the contract of all three players, former right-back Johnson believes that the club should prioritise renewing Alexander-Arnold’s contract first and foremost due to his young age compared to Salah and Van Dijk. The right-back has also been linked heavily with a free-transfer to Real Madrid, making Alexander-Arnold’s renewal more important.

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  WHAT JOHNSON SAID

  Speaking to Genting Casino, Johnson said: “If I had to pick a contract to renew as a priority in the cases of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk, then Trent is who I’d go for, mainly because of his age. They’re all world class players, but Trent is the younger man, and he could feasibly be playing in the Liverpool first team for another six, seven years.

  “Mo and Virgil, as good as they are, aren’t going to be able to do that. Of course, there are rumours about Real Madrid wanting to sign Trent and I don’t expect those to go away. Real Madrid are a big, iconic club. Most players might not say it, but nearly everyone wants to play for Real Madrid. If Madrid wanted him, I think it would be a deal that he couldn’t turn down. He’s been so successful at Liverpool and won every trophy that you would want to win as a player with his boyhood club.

  “If he did decide to go, it’s not like he would be leaving on bad terms. I don’t think anyone would complain or begrudge him a move to Madrid because when Real Madrid come calling with a free transfer, it’s hard for any player (to turn that down).”

• WHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

  All three players will be free to open talks with other clubs when the January transfer window kicks off, and as such, Liverpool will be keen to have some sort of understanding as to their willingness to renew their contracts at Anfield prior to that.