Empire of the Kop
·26 dicembre 2024
Empire of the Kop
·26 dicembre 2024
Fabrizio Romano has given Liverpool fans an indicator as to what they can expect from the club during the January transfer window.
In just six days’ time, Richard Hughes will have the opportunity to dip into the market and strengthen Arne Slot’s Premier League-leading squad if the right player becomes available.
However, this may be one transfer window where the Reds are more preoccupied with keeping players at the club rather than bringing in new ones, given that Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold each have only six months remaining on their current deals.
In his GIVEMESPORT newsletter, Romano outlined that Liverpool are looking at potential recruits for next summer, but in the short-term the focus is very much trained on contract renewals.
He wrote: “In the summer [LFC] will be busy for sure. Liverpool are already monitoring players for the summer. The main focus now is on Trent, Salah and Van Dijk’s contracts.”
(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Liverpool fans would surely have been hoping that the contract situations of that crucial trio had been resolved by now, not just in terms of preventing the risk of losing them on free transfers in 2025 but also to have a clear run at recruitment in the January window.
The Reds were never likely to be embarking on a trolley dash next month, and it was outlined by Andy Jones and James Pearce in The Athletic today that the Anfield giants ‘will only enter the market if the right player and deal becomes available’.
Some might argue that a squad which leads the way in the Premier League and Champions League standings doesn’t need any great improving, although others may have legitimate concerns as to whether there’s enough depth in key positions to cover for a glut of injuries similar to what we experienced last spring.
If Liverpool supporters were offered a choice of whether a couple of January signings will be made, or whether all three of Trent, Salah and Van Dijk will agree contract extensions by the end of next month, we suspect many would opt for the latter.
Romano’s update suggests that those three crucial renewals could continue into the New Year – certainly not an ideal scenario, but we’d settle for a few days’ extra waiting if it means that two or even all of them pen new deals at Anfield in the coming weeks.