Major Salah, Van Dijk Liverpool contract ‘worry’ as Carragher questions if ‘goalposts have shifted’

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has offered his thoughts on Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk’s futures at Anfield, having questioned if their chances of signing bumper new deals have faded and having given the Reds some advice on potential incomings this summer.

The pair have played a monumental part in the Liverpool success story over recent years, with the Reds on the cusp of adding the 2025 Premier League crown to the seven other major honours the two players have collected over the last six seasons. However, with their deals due to expire at the season’s end, both players  – alongside a third major influence on the side, full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold – are all eligible to walk away as free agents.

The trio have all held negotiations with Liverpool over extended deals, but with an agreement still to be reached, the players are now an alarming 103 days away from being able to depart Merseyside as free agents. And with just nine games left of the season, it remains to be seen how many more times supporters will get to see the trio donning the famous blood-red jersey.

Discussing the latest around their futures, club legend Carragher has been left wondering if the Reds’ poor end to the season – which saw the club crash out of the Champions League and suffer defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final – will weaken their position when it comes to negotiations.

“You know what worries me, not from their point, but more from the club’s point of view,” Carragher said on It’s Called Soccer podcast, alongside Gary Neville.

“Van Dijk and Salah have almost come out and said they want to stay…

“My feeling and worry is that it kept feeling like Mo Salah and van Dijk were winning the PR battle because Liverpool top of the league won every game in the Champions League, the talk about trebles…

“In the last week, you know… maybe the people of the club are going is this a little sign of things to come in the future? Is this Salah being off form or is this the future of Salah? And if they don’t win as much, are they in a stronger bargaining position?

“I think this means actually the club are maybe not going to shift the goal posts at all, or maybe only slightly if you’d end up maybe winning the league.”

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Carragher wants Liverpool to sign two players to aid Salah

Carragher suggested earlier this week that regardless of whether Salah signs a new deal or not, he thinks Liverpool should consider signing two new attackers this summer to fix a glaring issue in their forward line.

“The lack of pace is glaring in the attack. I almost feel sorry for Mo Salah because he was criticised after the two PSG games, possibly the best left-back in the world in Mendes who is fantastic, he didn’t do much [vs Newcastle],” Carragher said.

“But he doesn’t get help off the other attackers, it’s not like what it was under Jurgen Klopp where Mane would bail him out or Firmino.

“The other attackers that Liverpool have got are good players, not great players. They relied on him, I saw a lot of criticism over the last week but what it shone a light on is Liverpool need to sign two attackers, not squad players, possibly to play alongside Mo Salah hopefully for next season.

“Liverpool look like they’re going to win the league and there’s lots of areas to improve on and I think they will in the summer.”

The Reds legend also thinks manager Arne Slot will embark on a major summer rebuild amid claims that he ‘does not trust four or five’ members in the squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp.

“I don’t think he’s got any time for four or five of those players in that squad – he’ll refuse to play them,” Carragher explained in the wake of Sunday’s loss at Wembley.

“The fact he didn’t change players at home to Southampton, in between the PSG games… Southampton are arguably one of the worst, if not the worst, teams we’ve ever seen in the Premier League, and he still didn’t trust his squad!”

On what is to come this summer, Carragher added: “I can accept that this season – because it’s not really his squad, its been passed to him – but I think next season (and I’m sure they’ll bring players in) he’ll have to trust his squad more.

“You have to go further in the Champions League [and] you can’t accept a performance like that against Newcastle.

“I’m giving the lads the benefit of the doubt that they’ve run out of steam, but you can’t accept Liverpool playing like that in a cup final.”

Liverpool transfer latest: Big clue for summer signing No 1; big Isak blow

Meanwhile, Liverpool now look well-placed to sign their No 1 target in the left-back position this summer after a connected second deal was lined up and a bid prepped, according to reports.

That news will be welcomed, even though any deal for their top target will cost a sizeable fee after James Pearce provided an update on both the player’s asking price and having named the Plan B option that the Reds are now very much keeping tabs on.

As Carragher has indicated, at least one new striker will be on the Reds’ radar this summer and big updates on two elite-level targets in  Alexander Isak and Julian Alvarez will certainly be of note.

Starting with Isak and it seems the Reds have been blown away in their quest to bring the player to Merseyside after reports emerged of the bumper double-your-money deal that has been presented to the Newcastle’s super Swede.

As for Alvarez, our contributor Ben Jacobs has provided some insight into claims the Reds have launched a huge move to bring the former Manchester City striker back to the Premier League and their historic interest in the Argentine.

The pair, though, are just two of nine strikers linked with a move to Anfield this summer – and we have looked into the merits of all nine players and how they might fit into Slot’s system.

QUIZ: Do you know which of these are Salah, Van Dijk or Trent?