Arne Slot’s Liverpool have been playing competitive football for over two months now and have won nine matches and have lost just one.
The Reds are approaching the next batch of Premier League fixtures with the surety that producing a winning streak will keep them in first place while, at the least, creating some distance between Arsenal, who are one point behind Liverpool and welcome them to the Emirates in just over one week.
Liverpool face Chelsea at Anfield first, and Slot will likely get to know his squad even better, for the Blues with their lightning attack could present the toughest test of the term.
The hosts will need to maintain their new-found strength and vim in defence while clicking and moving with slick synergy in attack. Connecting the two, Trent Alexander-Arnold will, as ever, be key, and he’ll be confident after making a positive impression.
Real Madrid's interest in Trent Alexander-Arnold
Will he or won’t he? Last week, during an interview with ITV’s Gabriel Clarke, Alexander-Arnold commented on speculation surrounding his future and stated that he doesn’t want his trophy-laden career to peter out as he enters the ‘prime’ of his career.
Aged 26, Alexander-Arnold is one of the Premier League’s biggest names and is Liverpool’s vice-captain. He has long harboured hopes of captaining his boyhood club, with whom he has played for since his formative years, joining the academy in 2004.
But he’s also approaching the end of his £180k-per-week contract and has attracted the vested interests of Real Madrid, probably the most illustrious and prestigious outfit on the globe. Los Blancos have all the pull of a super-charged tractor beam, one that players can rarely resist.
But Liverpool will hold out hope. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has repeatedly said over recent months that the England international is giving priority to Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah and club captain Virgil van Dijk are also heading toward the end of their deals. Let’s not forget that in a little over two months, all three superstars can chat with clubs from overseas and unite in a pre-contract agreement.
For Alexander-Arnold to remain, it’s clear that he’s going to want a package on his doorstep that reflects his prodigious powers. Salah, for example, earns £350k per week. Alexander-Arnold will want a deal to match, or maybe even surpass that total.
Perhaps Real Madrid should sign the Egyptian this summer instead…
Mohamed Salah is approaching the end
Many talented players have graced Anfield’s pitch over the past decade, but Van Dijk is probably the only one who can rival Salah in terms of influence and importance.
Signed from AS Roma in a deal worth £34m in July 2017, Salah was awarded a second shot at the Premier League after previously failing to make the grade with Chelsea.
We need not deep-dive into all of the Egyptian king’s accolades, but let’s touch on his ridiculous potency in the final third, scoring 217 goals and supplying 94 assists across 359 matches for Liverpool, giving rise to title-winning success on the biggest stages.
1.
Alan Shearer
441
260
2.
Harry Kane
320
213
3.
Wayne Rooney
491
208
4.
Andy Cole
414
187
5.
Sergio Aguero
275
184
6.
Frank Lampard
609
177
7.
Thierry Henry
258
175
8.
Robbie Fowler
379
163
9.
Jermaine Defoe
496
162
10.
Mohamed Salah
270
161
This season, as he approaches the end of his contract, the 32-year-old has posted six goals and five assists across ten matches for the Merseysiders, intent on chasing down more glory under new management.
He’s been the centre point of Liverpool’s attack since signing, and if Liverpool want to keep him on the books for the next few years, it’s hard to imagine he would settle for anything less than his current £350k per week salary. He may even want more.
Alexander-Arnold is also a player who has had a significant say in the narrative at Anfield since Klopp arrived after Brendan Rodgers’ demise, but he’s only 26 and has, possibly, his best days ahead of him, which is a staggering thought.
The thought of his plying his art for an overseas nemesis in Real Madrid is inconceivable to most of the fanbase, and that’s why it might not be the worst thing in the world for Salah to be signed instead.
Hailed as “world-class” by Klopp, Salah has been linked with the Spanish giants in the past, with reports in 2023 even suggesting that La Liga would be the right-sided star’s preferred destination if he were to pack his bags next summer.
The goal machine is still an elite-level striker, but he’s going to be 33 years old by the start of next season and any extension to his current deal would likely take him to the age of 35 or 36 by its conclusion.
Whether FSG would move away from their circumspection to agree to such hefty terms with an ageing player – who has no guarantees over productivity as he approaches the twilight colours of his career, remains to be seen.
And though Madrid are well stocked up front, there have been murmurings of discontent from Rodrygo’s camp and Arda Guler is routinely discussed for a loan move away from the Santiago Bernabeu to best serve his development.
As Michael Dawson has mused, any of the discussed trio at Liverpool will be entitled to pen contractual extensions, should they please.
Salah is a first-class forward, and Van Dijk is the backbone of the ranks, but both are several years into their 30s and Alexander-Arnold simply cannot be allowed to move away in search of pastures new.
Relevant figures of a Liverpool persuasion might want to see if the La Liga champions can be convinced into taking Salah on board for the next few years, instead of pulling the lifeblood from Slot’s exciting Liverpool project.
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