Arne Slot reveals what he's really thinking about Liverpool contract nightmare in rare update
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has joked that Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold should just sign one-year contract extensions in order to have another excellent first half of the season. The Reds lost just one competitive game from August to December with their big-name trio putting in some excellent performances.
All three players see their current contracts expire this summer with no definitive update on a possible extension for any of them coming to light. Instead, exit links have emerged with Real Madrid submitting a January approach for Alexander-Arnold.
Though he has been asked about contract talks involving the trio, Slot has rarely given a considerable update, but that changed in a new interview with Amazon Prime. "If I look at the performance of the players, you have to say it is the opposite," he said when presented with the scenario that expiring contracts often impact players negatively.
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"I think Virgil [van Dijk], Mo [Salah] and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] have always reached a certain standard or above. So you can also look at it if we are able to extend them, maybe we should only do it for one year [Slot laughs] - so we have the same first half of the season again."
The big smile on his face when speaking those words showed Slot was clearly joking. However, Salah and Van Dijk, aged 32 and 33 respectively, could actually pen deals that last just a few years longer than that, while Liverpool will likely be keen to tie down Alexander-Arnold to a long-term contract.
Though their form in the first half of the season was hugely impressive, Liverpool have only won two of their last five games. A last-gasp Darwin Nunez double against Brentford this past weekend prevented that from being just one victory since the turn of the year.
However, securing those three points has seen the Reds move six points clear of second-place Arsenal at the top of the league table. Liverpool do face a crucial few weeks, though, with Tottenham arriving at Anfield in just a few weeks with a one-goal lead in their Carabao Cup semi-final.