The mysterious status of Liverpool stars

S ALAH, VAN D IJK , Alexander-Arnold ARE ALL EXCELLENT

The exact wording varies slightly, depending on the time, but in general, coach Arne Slot emphasized: he had to apologize because he knew for sure that his answer was boring, not satisfying what everyone wanted to know when asking that question. That question was: what will be the future of Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah?

Salah is playing brilliantly at Liverpool

The press also regularly hunted down the three players to ask that question. Following the example of Mr. Slot, they also answered the same way: "It's December (or November, a few weeks ago), not the end of the season. And we are playing football, not bargaining with each other."

There is no need to introduce the importance of centre-back Van Dijk, right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and striker Salah to Liverpool. Suffice it to say: they seem to have been better than expected this season.

No one shines forever. All three have had their moments of decline, and it’s not just a temporary setback. Observers say they’re past their prime. Yet this season, they’ve all flourished, helping Liverpool dominate the Champions League and Premier League: winning 17 of their 20 games, keeping a clean sheet in 12.

Salah scored as Liverpool won 1-0 at Girona, remaining the only team to win all 10 of their Champions League matches this season (and keeping a clean sheet in 5/6). In all of Europe's top 5 leagues, no one has been directly involved in more goals than Salah this season (27 goals in 20 games in the Champions League and Premier League). Van Dijk is a complete package both offensively and defensively: he defends solidly and has scored in both major tournaments. With a little luck, he could have scored more goals in the Premier League win over Manchester City.

THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT THE CONTRACT

The most important thing about the three players above this season is that they are all out of contract at the end of the season. Losing just one of these players would be a difficult task for Liverpool. It is hard to imagine what Liverpool would be like if they had to say goodbye to all three stars at the same time.

Bad news for Anfield fans: no one has renewed their contract. Good news: no one has signaled that they will leave. The "mysterious" news is a combination of the two. This is a very unusual situation in professional football.

Kylian Mbappe has been considered a Real Madrid player since the middle of last season, when he announced that he would not renew his contract with PSG. And after that announcement, Mbappe had the worst half-season of his career. That is a typical case of a star who knows for sure that he will leave the team. In the opposite case, it is not much better. MU extended the contract to keep goalkeeper David De Gea in the 2019-2020 season. Immediately after signing the new contract, De Gea continuously made mistakes leading to goals. "Resigned", then there is no need to try hard?

One of the greatest successes of Arne Slot this season has been that he has never discussed the contract status of Salah, Alexander-Arnold or Van Dijk. On the contrary, the best players seem to be more focused on playing football than discussing their futures. Sometimes, when the press presses them, they will talk, but in a joking way. For example, Salah said he scored his last goal against Manchester City at Anfield. Does that mean Salah will not be at Anfield next season?

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tinh-trang-bi-an-cua-cac-ngoi-sao-liverpool-185241211225642625.htm