Liverpool high-earners Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are taking similar stances over their respective Anfield deals, which have ticked into a final year.
Liverpool has three high-profile contract situations it needs to address as a matter of some urgency once the transfer window closes tonight. Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, at least, are on much the same page over their futures at the club.
Perhaps the most important task for Richard Hughes will be to extend Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deal. The vice-captain is just entering his peak years, and losing him on a free transfer would be a travesty.
But while we’re yet to hear too much from him, both Van Dijk and Salah have both now addressed their contract situations in public. They struck a similar tone.
“I just came for a season and was like: ‘I have one year left so just let’s enjoy it. Don’t think about the contract now, don’t think about anything now, let’s just enjoy it,'” Salah told Sky Sports recently.
“I don’t want to think about next year or about the future. Let’s enjoy the last year and we’ll see.”
Salah is certainly enjoying his football so far under Arne Slot, scoring twice and assisting another in his first two Premier League outings. Next up is Manchester United, his favorite opponent of all.
His bright start only serves to underline that all of the usual rules should be thrown out of the window in his case. Now 32, he shows no real signs of slowing down, and it’s hard to imagine Liverpool could replace him without having to stomach an immediate drop in quality.
Likewise, Van Dijk has been a mainstay in Slot’s team so far. But he has been even more explicit in saying that contract talks are yet to take place, and is also planning to just focus on the season ahead and take things as they come.
“I’m very calm,” said the Liverpool captain, also speaking to Sky Sports. “The thing is, I want to play the best season I can again, I want to be important and stay important for the club this year.