02 Dec 2024 11:14:37
Are there any updates on the 3 contracts for vvd, trent and mo? Any truth in vvd contract being agreed?
02 Dec 2024 11:42:07
VVD confirmed at the weekend that any news that the contract had been agreed was false unfortunately.
02 Dec 2024 13:30:45
These owners are absolutely shocking I really wish they would sell up.
02 Dec 2024 13:41:19
Would that make Hughes suddenly good at negotiating contracts?
02 Dec 2024 13:48:59
Think its been said a number of times Hughes doesn't deal with contracts that would be Edwards.
Though both yet to prove they are any good at their respective roles!
02 Dec 2024 13:58:11
You are right @CMD20 - I meant Edwards. It was simply a freudian slip which I realised as I hit 'reply'! My point stands however - the owners are not involved in this.
02 Dec 2024 14:26:27
We need someone to channel Ed2 and shut down the ranting narratives, which suggest the club are just sitting there doing nothing.
Its a long, drawn out process, a bit like playing poker.
Mo and his agent are certainly doing their bit. meanwhile the business goes on behind closed doors.
02 Dec 2024 14:29:34
Regardless of who it is, they really need to pull their fingers out.
Having 3 of our 4 best players less than a month away from agreeing to walk away for nothing is terrible optics for the club.
02 Dec 2024 14:47:44
No worries ShipleyKopite.
I agree the owners are not involved, whoever has set/ created the budget and wage structure for the first team has to take some responsibility for the situation.
Have no clue what either Virgil or Mo want in there deals, but can't help but think offering them 2 years and a potential for 1 more after that on same ish terms is good for everyone.
Mo will be 33 in June next year so then could leave for his one last big money deal at age 35!
Virgil is 34 in July next year so how many more years he will have at 36 I don't know. So is this his big final deal?
As for Trent, I think he is gone already, I so hope I am wrong just feels that way. I would offer him a 5 year contract, big money. And say in 2 years you will captain of your boyhood club!
Who knows and when we do know and if it isn't positive for the club then I hope it doesn't impact our season in a bad way.
02 Dec 2024 17:16:34
I heard a rumour at the bus stop on Saturday morning that it’s Santa leading the negotiations and we should look out for news on December 25th.
02 Dec 2024 17:19:16
Salah indicating he would accept a year. Its all a game of bluff and fold. Salah might 'deserve' 2/ 3 years, but does that guarantee the club value for money? No it doesn't, especially if he reverts to post AFCON defeat form.
A year-to-year rolling contract makes sense to me, even if it might seem 'disrespectful' to a living legend.
The new sustainability rules are going to implement tougher sanctions, and we'll see more of what was dished out to Forest and the Blues.
02 Dec 2024 18:28:25
Julian Ward is responsible for contracts.
02 Dec 2024 19:22:56
People refusing to blame the owners… they hire these people and as a result are culpable for these failures. It starts from the top.
02 Dec 2024 19:44:18
Don’t stress guys, if the club want something done then they will try and do it. If they don’t then they wont. If the players want to stay then they will try and get something done, if they want to leave for more money or whatever, then that’s up to them.
If the players leave, then they will need replacing. The club will know all this and will have a plan in place I’m sure.
We are sat at the top of the league and the champions league and all well within the financial rules, so all this nonsense about the club/ owners or whoever not knowing what they are doing is a bit silly really.
Sit back, enjoy the football and what will be will be!
02 Dec 2024 20:24:38
6 gold Stars, its all Nice and well to say just sit back and enjoy. You are just forgetting 1 simple thing, Salah has 13 goals and 11 assists. He has been directly involved in 52% of our goals this season. Let that sink in. We have conceded 12 goals in 20 games, of which only 9 when Van Dijk has played. 9 goals conceded in 18 games, obviously not only down to Van Dijk but he plays a massive role in those numbers. I am a very positive fan, but is it really so wrong to be really worried about losing these legendary players? I mean if you think we are as good without Van Dijk, Salah and Trent to a lesser extent then you are in for a rude awakening, we will turn from title challengers to top 4 challengers or worse. I see nothing wrong in wanting my beloved Liverpool to dominate on the pitch. I don't care whatsoever about the owners pockets! I have seen Liverpool win 1 PL in 35 years of supporting and this will come back to bite us in the bum. Specially as Salah and Van Dijk show no sign of slowing yet and Trent isn't even in his Prime yet.
02 Dec 2024 21:26:15
Friskesprett, do you not think that all the stats above that you mention, the club don’t know?
A club built on analysing stats and and making decisions based on them have simply not seen what you do?
If it was as simple as you make out, why do you not think that is has not been done already?
Maybe Salah wants £600k a week?
Maybe VVD won’t sign unless he gets what the same as what Salah earns?
Maybe Trent wants twice as much as both of them?
Truth is, non of us know what’s going on.
Non of us can change what’s going to happen.
Instead of worrying about things that is out of your control, why not try and enjoy the moment?
Over the next few years, at least 2 of of the 3 will need replacing anyway, so you are going to have to get used to that at some point.
Just as a side note, I hope they all sign a new deal, but not at any cost.
02 Dec 2024 21:28:35
@Frode, go on, I’m game.
Concerning the contract negotiations it might be entirely the clubs fault - let’s say the owners are you appear to be an adherent of the micro-management school.
It may be the case that all three players have requested very agreeable terms (from the clubs perspective) in terms of contract length, salaries, bonuses, advertising rights percentage that the players and their agents want. In this instance it would be the clubs fault - assuming they wish to keep one or more of the players - if they didn’t produce the contracts and re-sign the players.
At the order end of the scale, the club may not wish to re-sign any of the players - age, attitude, unreasonable demands, desire to move to a new style of play with a younger squad - who knows what else. In this extreme there is no ‘blame’ attached to the players or the club. There is nothing anywhere that says a club is obliged to renew a contract once the existing contract is complete. Of course people may disagree with the club’s decision but that isn’t blame, that’s an assumption that you, me, anybody who things the club is wrong knows better than the club
I actually blame the club for loads of stuff if I’m honest -
Turning up and buying the club and bailing us out when we were a gnats todger from going into administration.
Refurbishing the stadium to increase the quality of the ground and introducing increased revenue streams.
Building the new training centre to enable one site for all teams and enable a system of football education and training / playing that makes the move from junior to senior seamless if the youngsters are good enough.
Bringing in the German fella which was the catalyst for the club returning to where it should be - the elite level - and what we should be -a club and fanbase that believes in the idea of YNWA.
Bringing in the new Dutch lad who has started with the best record of any Liverpool manager since the club was formed.
Overseeing us as top of the PL and CL tables as things currently stand.
Just a few of the things I blame them foe @Frode which I’m sure you might agree with?
02 Dec 2024 22:24:23
Great post West mate. I think the owners have great. We have a very good squad with a very good head coach. Top of both leagues where it matters.
02 Dec 2024 22:34:04
WDW - go on then, I'll bite.
1) Name another top club (assuming you think we're a top club) that has run their 3 best player's contracts down to the last month before they can start negotiating with others.
2) Name another club that gaslights the fanbase through sycophantic local journos to;
a) try to convince us that we can't find value in the transfer market for positions we have needed to fill for multiple years
b) try to convince us that we are financially hamstrung
c) try to convince us that club legends like Mo, Virgil and Trent are the bad guys.
Optics are everything when it comes to big football clubs and these self-proclaimed shadowy geniuses are pushing things way too far.
02 Dec 2024 23:25:54
FPF and WDW - two beautiful posts and two sides of the same coin. Man, I love this site. Thank you.
03 Dec 2024 03:06:14
6 Gold Stars - If Liverpool don’t get these contracts sorted out, necessarily with extensions, it WILL become a distraction later in the season. You saw how the team fell away in the latter stages of last season as the poor tactics and Klopp leaving impacted performances.
The performances from Van Dijk, Salah and Trent on Sunday should have hammered down, once and for all, just how critical it is we re-sign all three of them. Not one or two - all three. Two moments of sheer brilliance from Trent and Salah opened the deadlock on Sunday - lesser players simply can’t do what they do.
So while we may just want to enjoy the ride, the ride will be short-lived if we let 200m of talent walk out the door for nothing. It is indefensible.
03 Dec 2024 05:22:23
@StE, the answer lies somewhere in the middle if we’re honest, but don’t tell @ Frode ?.
03 Dec 2024 06:19:39
Bayern currently are yet to extend Sane, Kimmich and Davies. They have a team of stars so maybe hard to be an exact comparison
are the local journos doing any of that? I've seen a range of opinions from the local journos including the podcasters online, but I'm not seeing some kind of pro-owner propoganda.
03 Dec 2024 07:30:14
LOWE1FC, while I agree that all 3 players are important to the club, and that the club should have not let all 3 of them get to the last year of their contracts, at the end of the day the players are trying to get as much money from the club as possible (which is understandable, they are in a strong position) and the club doesn’t want to be bent over a barrel (which again is understandable) . Either they sort it out or they don’t!
You could say that if they don’t re sign, and the form drops off due to everything…then it’s the 3 players that are disruptive and have cost us the league, or whatever! That they should have signed a more than lucrative (let’s be honest, they are on ridiculous money) contract and been thankful to be playing for such a wonderful club.
I for one support the club over players. The players come and go, as does the manager, the staff and even the owners.
All 3 players will be offered new deals (whether that gets as far as a “contract” been printed up and put on the table is a different matter), and if the players don’t want to play for Liverpool any longer, and play for someone else, then thank you very much for your efforts and good luck.
You can’t make people sign new contracts.
03 Dec 2024 08:18:27
Faith - Van Dijk, Trent and Salah are 3 times the players the Bayern trio could ever dream of being. Sane is a one-dimensional player whose time at the top went the moment he did his ACL in 2019.
Kimmich was once a full-back with amazing potential but decided to masquerade as a midfielder instead, a bit like Lahm under Guardiola. He is also on €400k a week, which is terrible value.
Davies has some useful qualities but is largely the same player he was in 2020. He could be good at Real Madrid.
Bayern are losing talented players; Liverpool may lose some of the best to ever do it.
03 Dec 2024 14:50:56
Yeah Van Dijk, Salah, and Trent are the bad guys here. People so short sighted its crazy. Under our owners we are 11th for spending since they took over, there is no way in hell our finances are nothing short of amazing.