Liverpool told superstar will ‘definitely’ leave but none of elite trio can be ‘replaced’ – pundit

Darren Bent feels one of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah will “definitely” leave Liverpool, and he believes it will be the former, though none of them can be replaced if they are to exit.

The contract situations of the elite trio have all come to a head at the same time. Perhaps due to a lack of foresight, each man’s deal expires at the same time – the end of this season.

That means there is a path that could see them all leave in the summer.

Former Premier League striker Bent is stunned Liverpool have let it come to this, but feels only one man will walk out the door in the summer.

“It’s surprising they’ve allowed them to get to this point if I’m honest. If you get those three players tied down for the next two or three years Arne Slot’s probably thinking ‘with the situation, we have got a chance now to be really dominant and win,'” Bent said on talkSPORT.

“Come January I think it’ll be really interesting now. I don’t think all three of them will stay, I think one of them will definitely move on.

“Now if you’re asking me which one do I believe will probably leave it would be Trent, I think he’ll probably sign, maybe with Real Madrid it looks like, but I think Salah and Van Dijk will stay.

“If I had to pin one down to say ‘you have to stay’, for me it would be Virgil. You can’t replace any of them.”

Van Dijk influence explained

Bent went on to suggest why Van Dijk’s importance is higher than the other two Liverpool icons.

“I know Conor Bradley has come in for Trent and been brilliant, you’ve got Salah, you’re never going to replace him like for like with the amount of goals that he scores,” Bent said.

“But I just think Virgil, with that calming influence, you take him out of backline. I’m not saying that backline would look a bit ropey, [Ibrahima] Konate and [Jarell] Quansah, [Joe] Gomez, they all look fantastic next to Van Dijk.

“You take him out of the mix, even the full-backs are great with him, when he’s not there it’s a little bit ‘can I go, can I not?’

“So I think he’s the most important but I’m so shocked a club like Liverpool who usually do things all in the right way have allowed three of their greats – and Alisson is up next year – to all go down to the end of the season I find very very surprising.”

Liverpool round-up: Salah unaware on future

After he publicly stated he did not have a contract offer on the table from Liverpool, Salah has revealed he still doesn’t “know what will happen” in regards to his future.

He has offers to leave should he want to take them. As does Alexander-Arnold, with Real Madrid pushing hard, but Liverpool have reportedly submitted a mammoth offer of over £300,000 per week for the right-back.

Meanwhile, TEAMtalk is aware that Leeds are plotting an audacious swoop for goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

And in terms of inbounds, Liverpool have identified Chelsea right-back Malo Gusto as a potential option.

Should Alexander-Arnold stay or go?