Liverpool sit at the summit of the Premier League table and are now the favourites to win the league ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal. However, there is an underlying current at Anfield that has led to furrowed eyebrows and concerns about a potential massive upheaval next summer. The club are facing the real prospect of losing three of their most important players in one swift motion and for nothing.
While Arne Slot’s team have done business on the pitch this season with aplomb, the headlines around the futures of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have continued to bog down the club off the pitch. Liverpool can’t seem to escape the noise around the trio and the prospect of the trio walking away from nothing next summer.
Liverpool have allowed the situation to fester and the negotiations have dragged on for the months leading to furious speculation surrounding the three stars. The Reds are not in a tricky position as all three players will be free to discuss pre-contracts with clubs outside England from January. Their negotiating positions have grown stronger with each passing day while Liverpool continue to scramble to reach agreements.
The Merseyside giants are understandably hesitant about giving out massively inflated contracts to the three players as it would set a bad precedent and complicate negotiations over new deals with other players in the future. However, they are facing the nightmare scenario of starting next season without three players who etched their names into Liverpool folklore folklore.
The nightmare scenario for the Reds
While Van Dijk is expected to sign a new deal, a final agreement is not in place and he is less than six weeks away from being free to hold talks with other clubs. The Salah and Alexander-Arnold negotiations are almost certain to drag into 2025, which Richard Hughes has been desperate to avoid.
However, there is still a small chance that all three stalwarts leave Liverpool in the next summer transfer window and the club could be forced into a desperate rebuild with new players for three key positions. The Reds are desperate to avoid that situation but the possibility remains and in some corner of Hughes’ office the nightmare scenario has surely been mapped out.
Let’s start with the defence – replacing Van Dijk would be a monumental exercise and there is no guarantee that his replacement would be half as good as him. However, Liverpool have been tracking centre-backs across Europe and are almost certain to sign a central defender even if Van Dijk stays.
Loic Bade has been linked with a move to Liverpool in January but let’s be real – the Frenchman is unlikely to be the long-term replacement for Van Dijk. Nottingham Forest’s Murillo is on their radar as well but my pick to replace the Dutchman would be Marc Guehi. He was the pick of the defenders for England in the European Championship last summer and four bids from Newcastle showed how highly he is rated. The 24-year-old is approaching his peak years, is at the right age and is considered one of the best defenders in the Premier League. He would slot straight into the Liverpool eleven and take Van Dijk’s place in the team.
Can you name the team Liverpool sold these players to?
Replacing Alexander-Arnold will be another tricky affair as he is more than a right-back in the team due to his passing ability and pinpoint crossing accuracy. Liverpool would miss his attacking output if the 26-year-old moves on from Anfield but I would prefer to find an in-house replacement for him.
He is one of the greatest success stories of the club’s academy and why not find his replacement from the academy itself? It is no secret that Conor Bradley is rated highly at Anfield and he is the second-choice right-back in the squad behind Alexander-Arnold. Bradley has done enough to suggest that he has the potential to be the number one right-back for Liverpool and now it’s all about giving him that chance. Given how much money Liverpool would need to spend to replace Van Dijk and Salah, it would be no surprise if the Northern Irishman is given the task of being the Alexander-Arnold successor next season.
What about a successor for Salah? Replacing the forward’s talismanic impact on the team will be next to impossible but Liverpool have to try. The Merseyside giants are actively looking at wide forwards and they will have to splash the cash if they want to find an adequate replacement for Salah. Omar Marmoush doesn’t play in the same position despite his ambition of being his compatriot’s successor at Anfield. Liverpool need experience and impact from Salah’s replacement and there is no better wide forward in world football at the moment than Barcelona’s Raphinha. He is in red-hot form and has not looked this good ever. At 27, he has the experience and is Premier League-proven. Will he be expensive? Yes. Is he worth it? Yes.
In other areas, it seems likely Giorgi Mamardashvili will replace Alisson Becker as the number one and the Reds could also bring in a new left-back and a defensive midfielder next summer.
Probable Liverpool lineup at the start of the 2025/26 season: Mamadashvili, Bradley, Guehi, Konate, Kerkez, Zubimendi, MacAllister, Gravenberch, Diaz, Raphinha, Nunez
