Arne Slot has said the January transfer window will not become a distraction from Liverpool’s fine run of form or cause a loss of control in his relationship with his players, even though Mohamed Salah admitted a conclusion to his own contract situation remains “far away”.

A steamrollering 5-0 win at West Ham put Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table, the same day that reports surfaced in Spain suggesting Trent Alexander-Arnold is now close to formalising a much-discussed move to Real Madrid when his contract expires in the summer.

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“I think I have a lot of control over what they do if they are on the training pitch or in a meeting with me,” Slot said. “But if you’re talking about their private life I don’t have control. I have control over what I expect from them on the pitch and I’m really pleased to see what Trent, Mo [Salah] and Virgil [van Dijk] bring on the pitch.”

Slot also paid tribute to the form of Salah, who contributed two assists and a goal at the London Stadium, and to the way the side has supported its cutting edge. Salah now has 17 goals and 13 assists in 18 games, which is the fastest any player has reached 30 goal involvements in a single Premier League season.

“Mo and the word extraordinary is something I have heard a lot in the last six months. He truly deserves this. He doesn’t surprise us. We know what a player he is and what he is able to do. He works really hard aside from that when the opposition team has the ball. I would also add that when he scores the chance is made by other players on the pitch. But when you put him in those positions he is extraordinary.”

Asked if he was hoping to be able to give some good news soon with regard to his contract, Salah told Sky Sports: “No, we are far away from that. I don’t want to put something in the media and people start saying stuff, but nothing really moved on.”

Asked about Salah’s contract situation, Slot spoke of things changing in January “not on the inside, but on the outside it definitely does, because probably people talk even more about it”.

Liverpool have now scored three or more goals in seven away games this season in all competitions, although Slot denied they had had moved up a gear recently in anything other than their finishing. “Maybe we are a bit better but it is not like we improved hugely. What we did improve at is scoring goals. There were games when we could have scored many more but we missed chances. Even today we could have scored three more.”

Julen Lopetegui was realistic about his West Ham team’s performance in defeat. “We didn’t deserve more,” he said. “It was a hard loss at home. We have to accept that we have a lot to learn in these matches. We can do better for sure, despite playing against what is currently perhaps the best team in the world.”

Defender Joe Gomez left Sunday’s match in the 37th minute with a hamstring problem, and his manager said he will now join Ibrahima Konaté on the sidelines, leaving only Virgil van Dijk and Jarell Quansah as specialist senior centre-back options, though midfielder Wataru Endo does have experience in the position.

Slot said: “It’s going to take a while before he’s going to be back. I don’t know how long but he will be out for quite a bit.”