Ornstein: FSG were ‘reluctant’ to offer new contracts to Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk | OneFootball

It’s great to hear that Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk are on the brink of signing new contracts at Liverpool and though every supporter wanted this, our owners weren’t always on side.

The ability of both men has never been questioned, the major stumbling block is their age and David Ornstein has lifted the lid on what our owners were thinking about potential new deals – in The Athletic:

‘Owner Fenway Sports Group has previously been reluctant to hand out lucrative new deals to players in the twilight of their careers.

‘However, Salah, who will be 33 in June, and Van Dijk, who turns 34 in July, have proved they still have so much to offer.’

Not only have the duo done enough to convince the American owners, they have managed to win them over enough to pen a two-year deal each.

This due diligence from FSG shows why we’ve been such a well oiled machine in recent years and illustrates just how impressive our captain and goal scorer have been in the current season.

Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk won FSG over

(Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

With Richard Hughes being the middle man in these negotiations, credit should also be given to him for managing to get all parties to a position where they were happy.

Though this wasn’t possible for Trent Alexander-Arnold, it seems clear that the Scouser was welcome to the flirting from Real Madrid – making any possible talks with him near impossible.

For our Egyptian King and Dutch skipper, they remained focused on doing what they could to convince our owners that they should stay at Anfield.

That’s why this news about Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk should we widely celebrated by Liverpool fans.

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