'I Don't Have Control' - Arne Slot Offers Fresh Update On Liverpool Contract Talks
Arne Slot has provided a fresh update on the contract situation of Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold ahead of the January transfer window.
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The three players are out of contract at the end of the season and will be free to negotiate with other clubs from Wednesday. Salah, Van Dijk, and Alexander-Arnold played key roles as the Reds thrashed West Ham United 5-0 at the London Stadium on Sunday night.
The victory sent Slot’s side eight points clear at the top of the Premier League with Salah and Alexander-Arnold on target. After the game, Salah revealed that he is still "far away" from agreeing a new contract with Liverpool.
Slot admits he has no control over the private lives of Salah, Van Dijk, and Alexander-Arnold as they approach the final six months of their contracts.
The Dutchman said: "I think I have a lot of control over what they do. If they're on a training pitch, if they're in a meeting with me, but talking about the private lives, I don't have control about them. So that was the situation I had a year ago.
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"That's been the situation as long as I'm a manager, but I have control to a certain extent over them from what I expect from them on the pitch. And I'm really pleased to see what Virgil brings, what Trent brings and what Mo brings.
"Now the positive thing for me is that for four or five months it was only Trent, Mo and Virgil, what you guys were talking about. And I assume - and don't let me down now please, - that people now are going to talk about how we're going for a player and who we are going to bring in the upcoming month and which other player is going to leave. So I get some other questions as well. Not only about these [three].
"There's nothing in the media yet about who we're going to bring in [during the window]. And also not in my mind where I'm very happy with this call. We have, I said this six months ago and everybody laughs [and asks]: 'Is this guy crazy?' But I think the players showed that the confidence the club and me had in them as well was well deserved."
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LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli