Trent Alexander-Arnold contract update: What does the future hold for defender after Champions League exit?

Arne Slot's side were dumped out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, losing 1-0 on in regulation time before losing 4-1 in a penalty shootout.

With Liverpool having exited at the round of 16 stage and with the Premier League almost certainly wrapped up, attention will soon turn to the three stars out of contract.

Van Dijk, Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are set to leave the club at the end of the season as things stand, and Lynch expressed his concern that the latter is the most likely to depart Anfield, telling Sports Mole: "One area where you might be a little bit worried is Trent. Liverpool would have liked to have had that wrapped up by now.

"I don't think any decision's been made, even though people are speculating about that, but he was the priority of the three because he's coming into his peak years, he's a local lad, you want to keep hold of him. I'm a little bit concerned that that one's not wrapped up because I think that says something about him thinking about going and wanting that move to Real Madrid."

Alexander-Arnold has consistently been linked with a move away from the club to Real Madrid, and fans will hope that they have not seen the last of the right-back following his injury against PSG.

Will Van Dijk and Salah stay?

Van Dijk and Salah have both publicly aired their desire to stay at Anfield - unlike Alexander-Arnold - but neither have said that a new contract is close to being agreed.

Salah has long been admired by teams in the Saudi Pro League, while Van Dijk has been linked to the likes of Barcelona in recent months.

However, Lynch told Sports Mole that he was not alarmed by the situation of the two veterans, saying: "I speak to Virgil van Dijk fairly regularly in the mix zone. He stops quite a lot to speak to us, and he had a conversation relatively recently where he was like, 'if I'm not panicking, there's no reason for anybody else to'.

"I'm relaxed about it. Those two in particular, him and Mo Salah, we've seen this a lot with players who are in that age range and are getting towards the end of their contracts - they can be signed quite late in the day. That's not particularly unusual.

"I'm fairly convinced that they will sign up because they're so relaxed in their demeanour. You're not hearing Mo Salah talk about it very much at all now. Virgil is giving that message that he's calm about it. So, pretty confident on those two."

Given Liverpool could already be looking to make a number of signings in the summer transfer window, allowing Salah and Van Dijk to leave may cause significant and unnecessary upheaval in the squad.

Can Salah replicate this season?

Salah failed to register a goal or assist against PSG in either leg but his season as a whole has been phenomenal, with the winger having scored 27 goals and provided 17 assists in just 29 Premier League games.

The Egyptian is arguably enjoying the best season of any player in the competition's history despite being 32 years old, though there are some concerns that he will not be able to replicate his performances in the coming years, making any contract extension inherently risky.

Speaking to Sports Mole, Lynch acknowledged that Salah may not be able to replicate his 2024-25 campaign, but insisted that his contract should be renewed regardless, saying: "I don't think [Salah's] going to put many of these seasons together in his career, as freakishly good as he is.

"But the bottom of his floor going into next season is probably 30 goals all comps, and you know that as a starting fact, and he'll probably get more than that, which shows you the outrageous level that he plays at. So, if there's any discussion about the contract that Liverpool are going to give him, and what they're going to get from him next season, I don't think there's any doubt that he's going to provide an awful lot of goals and assists.

"He doesn't necessarily have to replicate this level, he just has to go back to being a normal world-class Mo Salah, and that's absolutely fine, and he'll still be worth absolutely every penny that Liverpool give him, I'm sure of that."

Salah currently ranks as the Premier League's joint fifth-highest goalscorer in history, and he has shown no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Written by

Lewis Nolan