Did FSG blunder by signing Liverpool legends Salah, Van Dijk to new contracts?

There has been plenty of talk already this season as to whether Liverpool dropped a clanger by giving lucrative new deals to veteran duo Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk back in April, and TEAMtalk writers have had their say after another disappointing Reds’ result and performance from the pair against Sunderland on Wednesday evening.

The 1-1 draw with the Black Cats has left the reigning Premier League champions sitting eighth in the table, having already lost six times this season, with the pressure mounting on title-winning boss Arne Slot.

However, the Dutchman has not been helped by the struggling form of two of his kingpins in Salah and Van Dijk, who were both way below their best once again against Sunderland – although it’s only right to point out that the Egyptian only played half the match after starting on the bench for the second successive outing.

That being said, our writers have debated if it was the right call for Liverpool to commit to both players until 2027…

Steve Pearson

The easy answer to this is they blundered, but the actual answer is they were right to extend Van Dijk and Salah’s stays.

Liverpool spent well over £400m on new signings over the summer, many of which were necessary and not luxury additions. Had Salah and Van Dijk gone too, Liverpool would have needed to spent at least £100m more.

One of the criticisms levelled at the Reds this year is they’ve changed too much, too quickly, Now imagine this current Reds team with a backline consisting of three new faces, not just two, and a front four also with three new parts.

Another way to look at this is if you take Van Dijk and Salah out this season and replace them with Guehi and Semenyo, for example, would Liverpool be doing better, worse, or roughly the same?

Van Dijk’s standards have slipped but he’s still comfortably been Liverpool’s best defender this season.

Despite his struggles, Salah has returned the second-most G/A of any Liverpool player this season (eight), which is bettered only by Cody Gakpo (nine).

The other factor specifically related to Salah is the fact he was named the Premier League Player of the Season last year. Put simply, he was the best player in the league – the award is proof of that.

A drop-off is to be expected when players hit their early-30s, never mind mid-30s. But Salah would be dropping from the highest of high points and in theory, should still be far more effective than most in the entire league even with declining numbers.

Sometimes in life you make the right decisions and don’t get rewarded. Unfortunately for Liverpool, that is what happened in these two instances.

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James Marshment

It was a huge decision for Liverpool to make at the time and normally, when players hit 33, 34, they naturally hit a very rapid decline. At the time of those renewal talks, there were no sign, though, of either slowing up. And Salah, in particular, was absolutely still at the peak of his powers and enjoying arguably the best individual season of his career.

Van Dijk’s standards were not that far off, either.

Given the circumstances, there would have been hell to pay at Anfield had the Reds allowed either of those players to leave on frees – even if tying them both to bumper new deals was probably a calculated risk.

Of course, supporters don’t really care what players are paid; they only want to see the best players at their club and their team given the best chance possible to achieve success. It’s no issues to fans if Salah takes home £400k a week or £40k a year – he was still among the world’s best at the time and retaining him was a no-brainer.

Now, of course, the boot is on the other foot and amid a drop-off from both, particularly the Egyptian, questions about the wisdom of those deals is starting to be asked.

Perhaps in hindsight, Liverpool might have let their talisman ride off into the sunset – after all, the two-year deal they committed to worth a total of £41.6m, could easily have been used to better effect.

In light of all that, maybe this next summer is when the Reds do let Salah leave and they take that Saudi oil money and run.

Van Dijk’s a different matter for me; he remains one of the best and a real leader at the club and he’s perhaps needed more than ever given Ibrahima Konate’s woeful form alongside him.

Graeme Bailey

Let’s not forget FSG’s analytics were telling the club’s hierarchy that they should not be handing these huge deals to two players over the age of 30. But the fans wanted them to stay, Arne Slot wanted them to stay and it got done.

Now, less than six months later – the futures of both players are far from certain. Both have endured poor starts to the new season as Liverpool have as a whole.

Could van Dijk and Salah leave before next season – I would not rule it out, especially Salah and he is currently the club’s highest paid player, indeed he is on the highest wages ever handed out.”

Rob McCarthy

On the face of it, given the current form of both players, it looks a big fat YES. But, after the arrival of so many new players in the summer, there was also a need for keeping familiarity around the place – and nothing screams Liverpool and familiarity like Anfield legends Salah and Van Dijk.

Yes, they are both on the wrong side of 30 and no longer at the peak of their powers, but there is some solid reasoning behind the reason to extend their stays – even if it has been a costly measure.

In terms of Van Dijk, it’s clear and obvious that his mind has been on trying to defend both centre-back positions so far this season, given just how bad Ibrahima Konate has been alongside him.

Signing Marc Guehi in January, someone much more competent to partner Van Dijk, would make a world of difference to the Dutchman and see improved performance levels for sure.

As for Salah, things are just not quite happening for the Liverpool talisman, and perhaps a trip away to AFCON is coming at the right time for him in terms of a reset.

A different environment could be just what he needs right now, and there’s no doubting that he could return with a fresh vigour to get back to his best at Liverpool and prove that FSG made the correct call.

Fraser Fletcher

No, I don’t think they did blunder.

They are still top players and they would have had an ever bigger rebuild job if they also lost them in the summer.

Slot is already bedding in new players. Having to do that without the squad leaders would have been very difficult.

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