Despite Liverpool seeing their 26-match Premier League unbeaten run end on Sunday at Fulham, the Reds remain 11 points clear at the top of the league and on course to win their first title for five years.
Just seven games remain this season as Arne Slot looks to conclude a memorable first season at Anfield by landing the title, but the Dutchman will still have some major niggles on his mind between now and the end of the campaign.
That’s because influential trio Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all into the final weeks of their current Anfield contracts, meaning the club could have a very busy summer transfer window ahead of them.
Liverpool handed Van Dijk boost
While it looks like Alexander-Arnold is heading to Spain with widespread reports claiming he has agreed a deal with Real Madrid, the futures of skipper Van Dijk and leading scorer Salah are less clear.
Van Dijk has played every single minute of Liverpool’s Premier League campaign so far, vindicating FourFourTwo’s decision to rank him at no.1 in our list of the world’s best centre-backs and being the defensive rock around which the Reds’ title hopes have been built.
Although the Netherlands international will turn 34 next season, it is clear that his ability and durability are not in question, with Slot no doubt desperate to see his skipper remain at the club.
And it would appear that Liverpool are finally making progress in tying their man down.
“There is progress, yeah,” Van Dijk told reporters following the defeat at Fulham on Sunday, as per the Mirror. “I don’t know [if I’ll stay], we’ll see. Listen, these are internal discussions and we’ll see. I love the club, I love the fans and they were there for us again and we wanted to reward them.
The Mirror add that there is ‘optimism’ that a deal can soon be struck between Liverpool and Van Dijk.
In FourFourTwo’s view, Van Dijk’s comments on a deal potentially progressing are coming at an ideal time for the club, as they look to seal a record-equalling 20th title in the coming weeks.
Despite his age, Van Dijk is still valued at €28million by Transfermarkt and remains one of the best centre-backs in world football, so would therefore be very hard to replace in the transfer market this summer.
A new deal will prevent the nightmare scenario of needing to finding successors to Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk in the same summer, so even if the club have dig deep, tying down the Dutchman for the short-term would be a wise move.
