“The Biggest Concern…” – Paul Gorst Provides Update On Liverpool Contract Trio | OneFootball

The Anfield faithful now have two reasons to launch into a chorus of ‘Liverpool, Liverpool, top of the league’ after a tremendous second-half performance saw the Reds put four past Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

The victory leaves them top of the pile both in Europe and domestically ahead of tonight’s fixture against Aston Villa. With the team impressing on the pitch, one of the few negatives of the Arne Slot regime so far has been the lack of progress regarding the contracts of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

LFC’s vice-captain was a topic of discussion for Sky pundit Gary Neville earlier this week. The ex-Manchester United right-back drew a comparison with the transfer of David Beckham to Real Madrid in 2003, suggesting that Trent may want to ‘explore the world and Europe’ in much the same way as his former teammate.

On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked the Liverpool Echo’s LFC correspondent Paul Gorst for his thoughts on Trent’s contract.

The Redmen TV are proudly partnered with Dr. Emrah Cinik

Paul said:

“I think of the three, this is the one that Liverpool fans need to be most concerned about. He’s the only one who has interest from elsewhere that we that we know of, that we see speculated on.

“They’ve just signed Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer, so I’m sure that they feel that they can get Trent Alexander-Arnold to do the same. The longer it goes on, the more it becomes a worry for Liverpool.

“I think it’s almost a situation that could define Richard Hughes’ tenure as a sporting director if that’s not being a bit too dramatic, or judging him a bit early.

“If all three were to leave this summer, I think Van Dijk and Salah there’s a backlash towards the club from the fans on how they let this happen. With Alexander-Arnold, I think it’s more aimed at the player.

“They’re only less than two months away from being able to speak to him freely. Free of any outcry from Liverpool or anything like that, any talk of tapping up.

“The longer that goes on, it’s becoming a little bit of a terrifying situation for Liverpool supporters, not least because they’re going to lose one of the most talented players they’ve got, but also the fact that they’ll lose him for nothing.

“This is the biggest concern of the three, and the longer it goes on, the less likely it’s looking like a resolution.”

REDMEN REACTS

With 2025 fast approaching, fans may be fearing the worst when it comes to Trent Alexander-Arnold. A deal to keep him at the club would be both complicated and expensive, with the vice-captain within his rights to demand a deal similar to that of current top earner Mo Salah. Though a renewal would be pricey for the club’s famously value-obsessed executive structure, losing such a valuable asset for free would also be financially devastating. Alexander-Arnold may believe he has a better chance of achieving his goal of becoming the first right-back to win the Ballon d’Or at Real Madrid, but he would likely upset a considerable portion of the fanbase in doing so and find himself held in much lower esteem than many of his peers from the successful Klopp era. When it comes to Trent’s contract, no news is certainly not good news.