Big new Mo Salah Liverpool contract claim made but Slot tipped to move on Klopp favourite who looks ‘lost’

Liverpool have received a timely lift over Mo Salah’s future after a former player revealed exactly why he believes he will sign a new deal at Anfield, but Arne Slot’s patience may soon run out with another Reds attacker, while doubts have been raised over Connor Bradley’s chances of succeeding Trent Alexander-Arnold.

It’s been a season of dreams so far at Anfield with Slot effortlessly easing into the Liverpool hot-seat vacated by Jurgen Klopp and having steered the Reds to an impressive 19 wins from 22 matches across all competitions so far. As a result, hopes are high that the Reds, currently top of the Premier League table by a four-point margin heading into this weekend’s round of fixtures, can claim only their second English league crown over the last 35 years in 2025.

Despite all the success Slot has enjoyed so far, something of a dark cloud continues to hover over Anfield as the Merseysiders look to nail down new deals for their star trio Virgil van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Salah.

Talks with the trio are ongoing behind the scenes but they are yet to reach an agreement and with the players eligible to negotiate terms with overseas suitors from January 1, it is understandable to see why Liverpool fans may be starting to feel a little twitchy.

However, former star Stephen Warnock, now a prominent pundit, is convinced that Salah will commit his future to Anfield.

“I don’t have to answer who I think will replace Mohamed Salah – because he will be at Liverpool,” Warnock stated. “I think the contract situation will get resolved. You can see on his face that he’s happy when he’s playing for the club and I think he wants to get the contract signed. Even when he came out to the media, it was a ‘I don’t want to go – I want to be here!’

“If he leaves, I don’t know where he would go, to be honest. I know there were a few links with Paris Saint-Germain but I don’t know whether they’d go down that route with his age. I just don’t see him leaving Liverpool and I think he’ll stay there!”

One man Warnock can see leaving though is Darwin Nunez, with the €75m (£64m, $81.4m) striker failing to catch Slot’s eye so far this season.

“It’s not gone Darwin Nunez’s way at Liverpool, has it?” he said. “He looks a little bit lost at the moment and very low on confidence. I‘m not sure whether after scoring a few goals earlier in the season he thought he should have started more games, only for Arne Slot to change the XI, but I think it tells you a lot when the manager is playing a winger up front in Luis Diaz over him.”

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Nunez to fall down the pecking order as Carragher echoes Salah stance

Warnock reckons Nunez’s situation could get even worse once Diogo Jota returns to full fitness with the Portugal forward preferred by Slot at the start of the season before an injury once again curtailed the former Wolves man’s involvement.

“I think once Diogo Jota comes back into the team, Nunez will go even further down the pecking order,” Warnock added. “There just seems to be a lack of calmness in front of goal and an inability to settle himself or pass the ball into the net – the composure is just not there. I think it’s going to be difficult for him to stay in and around the team at Liverpool and contribute towards the end of the season.”

Returning to Salah and Jamie Carragher is also convinced that the Egyptian superstar will stay, having ruled out four possible exit routes for the 227-goal winger.

“I think he will stay because there aren’t too many options,” Carragher told the Stick To Football podcast on Thursday. “I don’t think he’s ready to go to Saudi, he can do that in three years. I think he’s that driven as a footballer in terms of getting records for Liverpool.”

Carragher continued: “Let’s say for instance he’s on £400k-per-week, and I don’t like throwing numbers out like that. When you’re on that type of money and you’re talking about a raise, it’s not 10 grand per week or 20 grand per week. So, let’s say he wants a little bit more.

“Real Madrid have got, how many attackers? Barcelona are in dire straits financially, PSG are nowhere near the team yet.”

Latest on Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold contracts

As widely reported, Liverpool are also locked in new deal talks with two other important stars in Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk – and sizeable updates on both players have been reported this week.

Starting with the Liverpool captain and a report has revealed the exact reasons why the towering Dutchman has rejected the Reds’ first contract proposal, though fears the 33-year-old could depart have also been eradicated with a strong update over the player’s intentions.

It’s not such positive news, however, around Alexander-Arnold with an update from Spain claiming Real Madrid now have a strong belief that the 26-year-old will opt for a move to the Bernabeu in 2025 and with the date when the move will be announced also coming to light.

In light of Alexander-Arnold potentially leaving, Liverpool have been looking into potential replacements and our reporter Rudy Galetti has revealed the four names that figure right at the top of the Reds’ wishlist.

There is also a school of thought that suggests Slot could fill his vacancy from within by offering more chances to academy talent Bradley.

However, Warnock fears there is one problem that lets the Northern Ireland international down.

“I think Conor Bradley certainly has the ability to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold if he leaves Liverpool, but the big concern for me is his injury record. I don’t know if he’s robust enough to cement that right-back position down because of all the injuries he picks up.

“In terms of attributes, he 100% has the ability to do it, but from a physical aspect, I have my doubts. Obviously, the more you play the more robust your body gets, and it could be a case of exposing him to more football to build him up, but there’s also a danger of the opposite effect happening and his body letting him down even more.”

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