John Barnes has expressed his disbelief at the notion that Liverpool haven't engaged in contract discussions with stars Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, and Virgil van Dijk. Despite all three players' contracts expiring in the summer of 2025, there appears to be no progress on new deals, a situation causing unrest among the Anfield faithful.
Liverpool's transfer strategy has been under fire, particularly aimed at Michael Edwards, the chief executive of football, and Richard Hughes, the sporting director, after a quiet summer which saw only Federico Chiesa join the ranks. Anfield legend Barnes, who spent a decade at the club, is convinced the Reds have a strategy up their sleeve, even if it potentially involves letting one of their key men leave for free.
In an exclusive chat with Ladbrokes, Liverpool's official betting partner, the 60-year-old said: "It'd be virtually unthinkable for there have been no conversations at all between club and players. I just cannot see it. So they'll have a handle on it. They're not stupid.", reports the Mirror.
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"I'm sure they've got it under control. There might be an announcement in the next month, let's say, that one of them has signed a new four-year deal and everybody was thinking, why were we all worried? There might be one of them being lined up to be sold on or to go out as a free, but whatever it is, they will have their plans in place. This has not just crept up on them in the last week at Liverpool."
"They will have plans in place and all it is is for the people like me to discuss what ought to happen, whether they should sign these players on, whether they should sell them and all the rest of it." Barnes acknowledged that while Liverpool may find it difficult to reject a hefty bid from the Saudi Pro League for Salah, there's just as much of a chance of the Egyptian signing a deal for a new multi-year contract.
"A lot of that depends on who's interested. For example with Mohamed Salah it's going to be virtually impossible to replace him. But if someone from Saudi are going to offer a hundred million plus, then that might be a decision that Liverpool can't turn down.
"On the flip side, Salah might have be in the last rungs of negotiation and they might be just adding one or two final touches to the contract and he's going to sign a new four-year contract. There will have been conversations with all three players for a period of time now. Absolutely."
The club suffered their first defeat of the Arne Slot era on Saturday (September 14) when losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at Anfield. It was Forest's first win at the stadium since 1969.
