To have one key player in the final year of his contract is happenstance. To have two key players in the final year of their contracts is coincidence. To have three key players in the final year of their contracts begins to look a little like carelessness. The contracts of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold will all expire next summer, and that creates uncertainty, not only for those players concerned but for Liverpool as a whole.
Everything connected to the trio is inevitably filtered through that doubt. When Alexander-Arnold looked miffed after being replaced by Conor Bradley with 18 minutes remaining of last Sunday’s win over Brentford, it was impossible not to wonder whether this was more than the usual frustration of the withdrawn player. Was it a rift? Was this Alexander-Arnold demonstrating his distaste for Arne Slot and making clear his heart no longer lies at Anfield?
