January is more than halfway over and Liverpool still have not sorted out contracts for the club's three key pending free agents: Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Reports have not just linked Alexander-Arnold away from the club; now, rumors out of Saudi Arabia tip both Salah and van Dijk to join Al-Hillal in a shocking double move. There's a chance Liverpool lose all three players or none of them at all.

Either way, the club's forward-thinking sporting department - spearheaded by Richard Hughes - is likely thinking proactively about potential replacements. Here are nine options - three for each position - of who the Reds could and should pivot to if the side loses any of its three stars.

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Mohamed Salah

Charles de Ketalare (Atalanta): The 23-year-old Belgian international got a second lease on life with Atalanta after flopping in 2022/23 with Milan. The left-footed forward plays exclusively on the right wing: the tall, composed dribbler is up to 17 total goal involvements this year.

Deniz Undav (VFB Stuttgart): Undav has developed into the fulcrum for Stuttgart, a Champions League-level outfit in the Bundesliga for two seasons now, late in his career. While he's already 28, the two-footer lines up mostly on the right in a front-two and could be an outside-the-box shout.

Christian Pulisic (AC Milan): The 26-year-old American forward feels like he's been around forever, having previously played for Chelsea. He's up to 10 goals on the campaign for Milan featuring on the right wing but can feature across the forward line.

Virgil van Dijk

Goncalo Inacio (Sporting): The Portuguese international checks every box: young (23), expensive, experienced, left-footed, and attempts a lot of passes (99th percentile on FBRef). It's believed he has a release clause of €60 million ($61.8 million).

Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan): Everything above from Inacio applies to the Bastoni. The 25-year-old has experience playing for one of the strongest sides in Europe but may cost over $100 million.

Amir Rrahmani (Napoli): Who has attempted the most passes in Serie A? The ever-present 30-year-old Kosovar has started league every game this season for Napoli and at 6'3" with plenty of experience, could step into the Liverpool XI (and at a cut-rate price).

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Conor Bradley (Liverpool): Alexander-Arnold's total attacking profile is nearly impossible to replace, so why not turn to the internal option who much prefers to bomb down the wing?

Anthony Caci (Mainz): Mainz is one of the surprise outfits in Europe, currently pushing for a Champions League spot in Germany. The 27-year-old French defender Caci is a big reason why: he ranks in the 91st percentile for npXG+XA per 90.

Michael Kayode (Lazio): 20-year-old Italian fullback Michael Kayode has struggled for game time this year with starter Dodo having locked up the position at Lazio. He was a star last season for the club and could push on elsewhere next season.