Salah, Van Dijk and Trent exit ‘surprise’ at Liverpool: ‘I am so shocked’
Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all being allowed to run down their Liverpool contracts is a real “shock” to Darren Bent.
The former England international also suggested that he expects at least one of the three will leave Anfield in the January transfer window. Despite being key members of the squad all three are out of contract on Merseyside in the summer, and Alexander-Arnold in particular has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Now Bent has criticised Liverpool for allowing a trio of their biggest assets to get so close to leaving on a free transfer, with all able to sign pre-contract agreements with foreign clubs from next month.
Speaking about that situation of talkSPORT, the ex-Aston Villa and Tottenham striker said: “It’s surprising they’ve allowed them to get to this point if I’m honest. If you get those three players tied down for the next two or three years Arne Slot’s probably thinking ‘with the situation at we have got a chance now to be really dominant and win’.
“I know Arsenal and Chelsea are there but at the moment they’ve been brilliant. They’re top for a reason, because they’ve been better than everyone else. Come January I think it’ll be really interesting now. I don’t think all three of them will stay, I think one of them will definitely move on.
“Now if you’re asking me which one do I believe will probably leave it would be Trent, I think he’ll probably sign, maybe with Real Madrid it looks like, but I think Salah and Van Dijk will stay.
“If I had to pin one down to say ‘you have to stay’ for me it would be Virgil. You can’t replace any of them.
“I know Connor Bradley has come in for Trent and been brilliant, you’ve got Salah you’re never going to replace him like for like with the amount of goals that he scores.
“But I just think Virgil with that calming influence, you take him out of backline. I’m not saying that backline would look a bit ropey, but with no him, [Ibrahima] Konate and [Jarell] Quansah, [Joe] Gomez, they all look fantastic next to Van Dijk.
“You take him out of the mix, even the full-backs are great with him, when he’s not there it’s a little bit ‘can I go can I not?’
“So I think he’s the most important but I’m so shocked a club like Liverpool who usually do things all in the right way have allowed three of their greats – and Allison is up next year – to all go down to the end of the season I find very very surprising.”
Liverpool will have questions to answer over possible Salah, Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold exits
Football Insider Opinion
As they look to have shown with the appointment of Arne Slot to take over from the incredibly hard-to-replace Jurgen Klopp the Reds generally know what they are doing when it comes to the big decisions.
It therefore seems very out of character that they have allowed three of their best players ever to get to a point where they are just a few months away from being able to leave for free.
All the talk of about these contract issues has to also become something of a distraction at a time when Liverpool are in contention to win so many trophies will be frustrating for many at the club.
Of course, the fact they could be lost for free will also make them harder to replace given they will not be getting the money they should be when considering how much all three ought to be worth.
This has created a rather awkward situation for Liverpool that could see them make things more difficult for themselves at a time when they have a chance to really stamp their mark on the game in this country.
Keeping any of the three might now feel like a boost for the club, and it is something they will surely have to learn from when it comes to player contracts in the future.
In other news, a possible exit from Liverpool for Ryan Gravenberch in a Real Madrid swap deal has been played down.
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