Arne Slot not concerned about uncertainty over out-of-contract Liverpool stars

Liverpool boss Arne Slot insists he is not worried about the ongoing uncertainty over the futures of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold as long as the trio are playing well.

All three players are out of contract at the end of the season and the exit of any of them would leave Slot with a big hole to fill in his squad.

Captain Van Dijk, 33, has said he is in conversations with the club but remains unsure over where he might be playing next year, while speculation has linked both Alexander-Arnold, 26, and Salah, 32, with moves away.

The players would be free to enter pre-contract talks with clubs abroad from the start of the new year but Slot is not concerned about the situation at present, with the trio having contributed to a flying start to the season.

“For me the contract situation could become a problem if the players don’t perform as well as they do at the moment,” Slot said.

“Of course it’s not sure that if, if, if they perform not as good any more that it has anything to do with their contract situation.

“At the moment all three of them are in a good place, all of them perform really, really, really well and there are ongoing discussions, as Virgil said, with the people he has to talk with, and that’s not me as you know. I talk with him to him about other things.

“Let’s wait and see but all what he said is completely right in that he doesn’t exactly know what the future will be as long as he doesn’t sign the contract yet.”

Liverpool host Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday, just three days after beating them 3-2 at the Amex Stadium in the Carabao Cup.

Slot said it was “not weird” to face a team again so quickly but expects a different contest given both teams made several changes for the Cup clash.

“Both teams didn’t start with the team they will start with on Saturday,” Slot said. “For both managers it is a positive thing in that you know even more about your opponent, although players make the game and of course it is different if different players play.

“The playing style might be the same but the qualities of the players make the difference and that changes the game on Saturday.”

Wednesday’s victory made it 12 wins in 14 games for Slot in all competitions since he arrived in the summer and, with an eye on four competitions this season, it was a useful learning exercise for the manager as he was able to rotate several players and still get a result.

“I think you learn every day, especially if you’ve (not been) long with the team as I am,” he said.

“You learn every day from new situations. I said from the Chelsea game something I learned from that was that they could sit deep and defend a lead. The way they came back against Arsenal was really strong, and then the amount of games they play and still be available and still play good football.

“Then we saw during the week that players who haven’t played that much have an impact as well and we will need them during the whole season so it’s good to see they are already on a level they need to play for us.”