Liverpool are seemingly preparing for a tectonic shift at the top of the squad pyramid, with Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold all approaching the end of their contracts.
While Liverpool are cruising toward the Premier League title, there’s little question the wider future presents uncertainty and anxiety. Losing all three players, perhaps Anfield’s most influential, would be a calamity, taking the heart from Arne Slot’s team.
However, FSG will want bang for their buck. Van Dijk and Salah are approaching their mid-thirties and given the stars are already Liverpool’s highest-paid players, with each searching for raises, it could skew the scales.
1.
Mohamed Salah
£350k-per-week
2.
Virgil van Dijk
£220k-per-week
3.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
£180k-per-week
4.
Andy Robertson
£160k-per-week
=5
Alisson Becker
£150k-per-week
=5
Alexis Mac Allister
£150k-per-week
=5
Ryan Gravenberch
£150k-per-week
=5
Federico Chiesa
£150k-per-week
For now, we can only wait. However, solace must be taken in several existing stars who could attenuate the potential losses of the ‘big three’ before Liverpool’s owners even brandish their purse.
How Liverpool can replace their biggest stars
Let’s talk theoretical. Were all three of Salah, Van Dijk and Trent to depart at the end of their contracts, FSG would patently green-light several ambitious transfer moves to keep Slot’s squad ticking.
However, Liverpool are already equipped to deal with the long-term impact of such sales through several exciting youth stars.
Van Dijk, for example, turns 34 this summer, and could find his successor in Jarell Quansah, who has ebbed and flowed this term but is scarcely into his senior career and has made quite the impact already, with Liverpool writer James Martin describing him as a “monster and “the real deal.”
Salah, too, is getting on, albeit he’s the best forward in the world right now. Ben Doak could ease his ultimate departure considerably, for the teenager is thriving on loan with Middlesbrough in the Championship, notching ten goal involvements from 21 starting appearances.
Though Alexander-Arnold is only 26, he’s the most likely to leave, with Real Madrid desperate to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu. However, in Conor Bradley, Liverpool might just have the pick of the youthful bunch.
Liverpool have hit the jackpot on Conor Bradley
Bradley joined Liverpool in 2019 when he was 16 years old, having played with Dungannon United Youth and Dungannon Swifts in his Northern Irish homeland.
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One year later, he signed his first professional contract, making his senior debut for the Reds in September 2021, starting during a 3-0 Carabao Cup victory at Carrow Road.
But it was last season this exciting talent truly announced himself to Anfield’s denizens, remarkably chalking up a goal and five assists from his first 16 appearances of the season, notably firing a delicious finish past Robert Sanchez as Liverpool thrashed Chelsea in January 2024.
He’s still only 21 but Bradley has everything it takes to nail down a regular starting berth at Liverpool. You’d have to say, he might be the only Reds affiliate on Merseyside who wouldn’t be dismayed were Trent to head for Madrid at the end of the season.
Slot certainly feels he’s got a superstar in the making, hinting in February that Bradley is good enough to take the first-choice spot. This is further corroborated by The Liverpool Echo’s revelations that FSG have held opening talks with the Northern Ireland international concerning a new contract, seeking to reward him for his rapid rise amid the uncertainty around Alexander-Arnold’s future.
Like Trent, Bradley has a natural eye for attacking success, though they differ significantly in the way they approach their football.
As you can see below, though, both enjoy success in their respective realms, giving Liverpool an intriguing sense of dynamism, allowing Slot to change things up depending on the situation.
Goals
0.00
0.08
Assists
0.08
0.19
Shots taken
1.13
1.80
Shot-creating actions
2.11
3.77
Progressive passes
3.89
8.31
Progressive carries
3.97
1.86
Successful take-ons
0.73
0.55
Touches (att pen)
4.21
1.58
Tackles
2.84
2.49
Bradley is far more willing to blitz into the danger area, using his pace and energy to stretch Liverpool’s opponents and create holes, opportunity.
It’s a shame he hasn’t played all that much with Trent. Bradley has experience in more advanced roles from his youth days – and you could only imagine the kind of havoc the right flankers could wreak if they hit the same wavelength, Bradley darting forward to connect with expertly-placed deliveries.
After all, the Three Lions superstar hailed his positional peer as an “absolutely phenomenal” young talent, nailing the calibre of prospect Klopp unearthed in his swansong.
Excitingly, he’s got so much still to give but has already shown signs of stratospheric growth. Indeed, according to Football Transfers’ player valuation model, the athletic defender was worth just £6.5m when Slot first arrived on Merseyside.
While his performances across the 2023/24 campaign proved that such a figure wasn’t an accurate reflection of the quality of player, he’s since sustained his level despite dealing with a series of different injuries. Now, Bradley is worth some £23m, equating to a whopping 253% increase in less than a year.
Though in actuality, Liverpool would be well within their rights to demand far more.
He’s already shaping up to be the “complete full-back” – as he has been called by talent scout Jacek Kulig – and if Alexander-Arnold does leave for sunny Spain, Slot may truly have the perfect replacement without spending a penny.
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