Arne Slot has had a close to perfect start to life at Liverpool, but there are some pressing issues which Jurgen Klopp will be able to relate with
Jurgen Klopp knows all too well that Arne Slot will not have the final say in the futures of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. A close to perfect debut campaign for Slot suffered two big blows last week, when the Reds bowed out of the Champions League and lost in the Carabao Cup final.
Paris Saint-Germain ousted them from Europe’s elite competition on penalties, while Newcastle United downed the Merseysiders under the Wembley arch as they missed out on the season’s first piece of silverware. While the last seven days or so will have left both Slot and Liverpool fans frustrated, they are still 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League with nine matches to go.
But as the Reds move closer to lifting their first Premier League title with fans in the stands, the prospect of losing Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk to free transfers when their contracts expire in the summer, grows more likely. Klopp knows this feeling all too well, having been forced to say goodbye to stars he was desperate to keep hold of.
After the loss to Newcastle, Slot used his press conference to state that he wants Van Dijk, who has been the Liverpool skipper this season, to extend his deal at Anfield. The ex-Feyenoord boss said: “I don’t even know what will happen next year.
“If anyone says they do know, they are lying to your face. I don’t know what’s happening next season as well, in terms of results. But that’s not what you mean. The only thing I know is that I want Virgil to be here next season. All the rest, talks about his contract, that’s not what I do over here.”
When Klopp was in charge, he was given a say in all things concerning recruitment and player retention. But the final decision was always made by the club’s Fenway Sports Group ownership, as was demonstrated in the departures of Roberto Firmino and James Milner.
According to the Times, Klopp wanted to keep both players who had played such a vital role throughout his time at Anfield, but the club allowed their deals to run down. Milner also revealed this in a previous interview with LFCTV, when he said: “I think it’d be a shame to stop when you’ve still got a bit of life in you. Jurgen Klopp‘s a pretty good manager, so that he wanted me to stay is pleasing.”
He added: “The club obviously made their decision on that. It’s nice I’m in a position where the manager wanted me to stay, but it got to the point where I got to terms [with it].”
Milner and Firmino were both allowed to let their contracts run down and depart to Brighton & Hove Albion and Al-Ahli respectively. Klopp also had to say goodbye to Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, who left for Al-Ittihad and Al-Ettifaq.
Klopp also wanted to hold on to the experienced midfield duo, but admitted the lucrative salaries on offer in the Saudi Pro League left the club powerless to keep them. There is yet to be any update on the futures of Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Salah.
The latter pair have both been linked with lucrative moves to Saudi Arabia, while Alexander-Arnold is heavily rumoured to be of interest to Real Madrid.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice
