Liverpool icon Graeme Souness suggests two stars leave as contract talks intensify

Former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness has given his views on the upcoming contract extension negotiations with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.

All three players are out of contract at Anfield at the end of the 2024/25 season, with fans becoming nervous about who will remain and who could move on.

The club is open to renewal offers for the main trio, but is also pragmatic about the finances involved in three important contracts – and this could impact negotiations.

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Veterans Salah and Van Dijk are rumored to be considering two-year offers, with 25-year-old Alexander-Arnold offering a longer contract amid interest from Real Madrid.

All three are eligible to negotiate with non-Premier League clubs from the start of January, but the free transfers cannot be completed until the summer unless Liverpool agree to cancel the contract.

Souness indicated that it is very unlikely that Liverpool will sell any of them in the January window, but admitted that keeping all three could be an almost impossible task for Arne Slot.

“I can guarantee that Liverpool will have spoken to their representatives and will know what these guys are going to do”, according to an interview with the Daily Mail.

“Trent appears to have a relationship with Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid. Would you be surprised if he went there?

“Would I be surprised if Virgil stayed? No. He’s one of the three I think is most likely to stay, because at this point, where will he go to get more money and a bigger football club?

“Would I be surprised if Salah stayed? A little. Because I think there would be a huge appeal for him, as an Egyptian and as a Muslim, to make astronomical money over the next three or four years in Saudi Arabia.

“This will be a real test for the team and for Slot.”

Although it is still early days, it would really be difficult to imagine a Liverpool team without Alexander-Arnold or Salah, given their role in the club’s achievements in the Jurgen Klopp era.

Liverpool entered the October international break top of the Premier League table, with a one-point lead over Manchester City and Arsenal, ahead of the EPL’s return at home to Chelsea on October 20.