The Virgil van Dijk contract saga was supposed to be the less complicated one. The defender has shown little inclination to leave, said little against the club in public and a deal was said to be on the cards. Everything was seemingly sorted out and it was only a matter of time before an agreement was finalised. However, it seems that the uber positivity around the defender signing the new contract was a mirage and there is still no deal in place.
According to The Athletic, Liverpool recently offered a new contract to Van Dijk but the defender declined to put pen to paper on the terms that were offered.
It fell short of the club captain’s expectations and so far there has been no breakthrough in negotiations either over the length of the contract or wages for the defender to sign a new contract with the Merseyside giants.
However, it is to be noted that Liverpool recently insisted that the club are yet to offer Mohamed Salah a new contract because the two sides have several issues to sort out before they can get close to reaching an agreement.
It is to be expected that the club offered Van Dijk the new deal only after several rounds of negotiations where it was made clear what terms the defender would be comfortable to sign a new deal.
So, we can safely assume Liverpool knew the parameters of the contract that Van Dijk wanted and yet made a formal offer that neither got the length nor the financial aspect of the deal right.
The club are now playing a dangerous game with Virgil van Dijk and the other two
The Liverpool fans were under the impression that the Van Dijk deal would be sorted out without any hiccups despite the problems around Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
However, this latest development should make them wary of what is to come in the coming months.
An annoyed Salah is prepared to sign a one-year contract but is unsure whether Liverpool will meet his expectations. Alexander-Arnold has Real Madrid waiting for him with open arms while the Reds still dilly-dally in negotiations.
Of course, the club have to make sure that they don’t overextend financially and leave themselves trapped in expensive contracts, especially with ageing players such as Van Dijk and Salah.
Can you name the team Liverpool sold these players to?
However, Van Dijk has been a rock at the heart of the defence and has reestablished himself as the best centre-back in the world this season while Salah’s fitness will put his younger teammates to shame and we don’t really need to discuss what he has been doing on the pitch.
The fact that Liverpool are penny-pinching shows how obtuse they are in the negotiations. Where can I find adequate replacements for Van Dijk or a Salah? How much would they cost? How will Liverpool replace the experience and impact they have had on the club? How will they manage the fans’ revolt? Can they guarantee that the money they would save from Van Dijk and Salah would definitely keep Alexander-Arnold?
FSG will have more fires to put out if the two most experienced players in the team leave at the end of the season. I hope it’s not too late for them to realise that they are playing with fire.
