17 Feb 2026 10:56:36
Hearing there's still a gap on Szobo's numbers.
His camp want around £300k base, rising to 350k with bonuses.
Club are closer to 220k base, 250k max all in.
For context, Gakpo's on 250k base, up to about 310k with add-ons.
He's not in a rush. Wants clarity on the managerial situation and his long-term role. Sees himself more as a no. 8 going forward.
No agreement yet, still some distance.
Heads up.
17 Feb 2026 11:15:07
That Gakpo contract was so unnecessary. It was clear to me he was to be sold this summer and it was running until 2028 anyway.
17 Feb 2026 11:34:43
It's happened again. Edwards is handing out huge contracts, and everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon. VVD and Salah. Hopefully an agreement can be made. Jones and Konate will have room to manoeuvre now too.
Anyone remember Fowler re-signing for us? Apparently he walked into the office and didn't even ask how much it was a week. He just wanted to sign the contract. Where have those days and players gone?
{Ed025's Note - its a different world now Gazza..
17 Feb 2026 11:53:54
Give him whatever he wants. His engine, leadership, quality, age, injury record deserve a top contract. Just f****** get it done before Madrid or anyone else comes sniffing.
17 Feb 2026 11:55:58
No wonder we have the highest salary out of the Prem. Once you give Mo 400+ a week, there's no going back, everyone else will want more. My one worry would be a drop off in form once players get their big contracts.
17 Feb 2026 12:11:55
We have the highest salary in the Prem because of massively incentivised deals. We won the Prem. Maximum related bonuses will be paid out due to that. It won't be the same next year.
17 Feb 2026 12:48:00
Exactly, Ginger!
17 Feb 2026 13:14:31
You give Salah that contract because he's earned it. He's our highest scoring PL player ever! He scored and assisted the most goals in the league last season, and we won it. He's won 2 titles and a CL and got us to 2 further CL finals. I'm sorry, but that doesn't give any other player the right to go in and demand the same. It's a very simple answer. Once you've achieved what Mo has achieved, we'll give you what Mo's got. Same goes for VVD. He's captain and still one of the best defenders in the world. He's arguably the best CB we've ever had. He's won 2 titles and a Champions League and got us to 2 other CL finals. When you've achieved what he's achieved, you'll get what he's got. You could even look at the big contracts Mo and VVD got as a positive, instead of just using it to beat Edwards over the head, again.
These contracts show the other players that, if you show your worth and achieve great things, Liverpool are a club that will reward you for it. It is an incentive to all of the players that weren't part of Jurgen's league and CL winners. On the flip side, if we'd not agreed new contracts with VVD and Mo, the fallout would've been extremely negative. It shows the other players we use you to get success and then just dump you when we don't need you anymore. The negativity on here is incredible sometimes. People just look for reasons to moan and whinge about anyone at the club without the first clue of what they're talking about.
{Ed025's Note - i agree to a certain extent BP but the two most important words are "past tense" mate, Mo has been nothing short of atrocious for quite a while now and for me age has caught up with him unfortunately so i will ask you where do you draw the line?, what he has done in the past has been great and he has been very handsomely rewarded for it but if hes not producing the goods there has to be a cut off point where you ask if hes worth the money? sentiment is all well and good but this is a business and you cant afford any lame ducks im afraid ..
17 Feb 2026 13:26:21
I agree with Varry. Mo and VVD have earned their contracts, and good luck to them. Both would be in our all-time best 11, imo, excellent professionals, nearly always available for selection, and I've no doubt could've moved clubs a few years ago when they were at their peak for more money.
City, PSG, Madrid, etc., I'm sure would've had no problem paying them 500k or more per week.
17 Feb 2026 13:30:19
This is the problem with "pay him whatever he wants" approach. Everyone then starts wanting more and more because "X" player gets paid "Y".
17 Feb 2026 13:32:23
Love this take, Varry.
17 Feb 2026 13:21:23
And what a shame that is Ed.
See so many players pat the badge or kiss it
Yet there soon head turned when a bigger club comes calling or the money is better somewhere else
These so called supporters playing for their teams they support is propaganda
I'm 44. I'd run to Liverpool now from Dartford and play football for the chance to wear that shirt and score in front of the Kop
{Ed025's Note - it is a shame Gazza, i feel that its all about agents rather than players now mate and how much they can cream off the top to feather their own nests so ask for unbelievable contracts that are not sustainable..
17 Feb 2026 13:50:34
Yeh but Ed its not as if Mo jumped from 100k to 400k he was already on 300k plus and then had the best indiviual season ever in the history of the league, winning it along with every individual award going.You were always going to have to bump his money up, and rightfully so because without Mo last year we probably don't win the league.If the club hadnt extended the fans would have been in uproar.Same with Virg, best CB in the league last year in a year we lifted the title.Only 2 year deals so i have absolutely no problem with them two getting that money.For me if two players have performed to a level they would be in our alltime 11 you look after them.
{Ed025's Note - they were both instrumental in your success last year FM thats without doubt, i just feel that we all knew it was getting to the end of the road in their careers and offering that sort of money in relation to their ages it was always going to be a slippery slope mate, i just dont know where it ends?..
17 Feb 2026 14:55:04
I get that, it's just that we could hardly ask them to take a pay cut either. If we had, or if I was them, I'd have told us to f*** off.
{Ed025's Note - i was thinking more of a freeze than a cut FM, dont forget that these extortionate wages do not include bonuses and its not as if they are on the breadline mate, maybe its just me being old and decrepit and not living in the real world when it comes to player salaries.. :)
17 Feb 2026 15:11:53
Salah's wages will be covered if he moves in the Summer, so it was a no-brainer to give him a new contract.
17 Feb 2026 15:24:49
Do you think there was any logic applied in giving Salah a new contract at 400k, in the belief he would only stay one more season, but that it would allow us leverage to get a decent fee from Saudi rather than let him go on a free?
17 Feb 2026 16:24:25
Ed, 250k rising to 310k for Gakpo true? Thought he was on less than that.
{Ed001's Note - not sure about the rising to 310 no.}
17 Feb 2026 17:06:55
Salah's situation in no way can be compared to Szobo'a. Salah has done it year in year out for nearly a decade. Whilst everyone contributed last season, Szobo was considered a player who should improve. He has improved.
17 Feb 2026 17:21:56
What managerial situation? Is Slot going?
17 Feb 2026 17:34:07
If Salah doesn't move in the summer (he has no need to unless it suits him), then we're left with a declining player, playing fewer games on 400k per week, and there's nothing we can do about it. It was a tough call giving that contract out to him and to VVD, because there is no doubt we would not have won the league without their performances last season.
Perhaps the smart call was to let them leave as champions - they deserve that - rather than let them deteriorate along with the team. I don't think for 1 second I would have made that call, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
17 Feb 2026 18:05:18
Salah's decline is still probably between 15-20 goals a season and loads of assists though. I'd imagine only Semenyo out of all the wide forwards in England will get more G/A than Mo this year.
17 Feb 2026 18:11:42
I agree with the sentiment that Es02 used to put forward regularly about not discussing finance. @Frode, you can compare players' salary values. In fact, the club has to compare and needs to fit all salaries within the club's wage structure. Each contract agreed will have an impact on all contracts that come after.
17 Feb 2026 18:21:24
The issue we'll have with players like Gakpo is: why would they leave? Nobody else will pay them so much more than they're worth, as we are. Luckily, most other clubs would want players on high salaries.
17 Feb 2026 19:16:20
Salah atrocious?? Have a word with yourself! I think he's got 16 goals and assists this season. And he'd have a lot more assists if he hadn't messed up chances he'd handed them on a plate. Yes, he hasn't hit the heights of every other season he's played for us, but to say he's been "atrocious" is just plain wrong.
{Ed025's Note - i was being nice with atrocious Flidby out of respect for the guy..
17 Feb 2026 19:22:12
Just checked, and Salah is sixth in the Premier League for goals and assists. And that's with him missing a chunk because of AFCON. This narrative that his legs have gone is just nonsense. It's such an easy accusation to throw at a player who is north of 30.
His legs looked alright when he burst past that Brighton defender in the second half to win that penalty. If his legs had gone and he was so bad, why does the opposition double and triple team him?
{Ed025's Note - going past a very poor Brighton full back does not make him Usain Bolt Flidby and to do it once in 8 months is hardly consistency mate, i get your love for the guy i really do but being an Ostrich does not really make much sense either imo..
17 Feb 2026 20:18:53
Ed I think you are not looking at the bigger picture here. We knew this would be a summer of change. We knew there'd be a lot of players leaving and we'd have to replace them.
Would it really have made sense to allow our 2 most experienced, most influential and most successful current players leave as we are bringing a lot of new players in?
There is more to a successful squad than just match days. These players can play a crucial role in the transition from one group of players to another. They've literally won it all and can pass on their knowledge and experience to the new and younger players. Their standards, their habits, their ambition, their work ethic.
In the long run that is worth paying a big 2 year contract for even if they are not playing at the level they used to and it shows the new and young players what you can become by playing for this great club. It gives them something to aspire to.
It's a no brainer for me.
{Ed025's Note - maybe you are right BP, you should give them a 10 year contract and increase their salary to half a million a week because they are so important, possibly offer Robbo a similar deal because hes been good as well..
18 Feb 2026 10:20:28 If there are players of this FSG era who deserve to "break the wage structure", then it's VVD, Mo and Alli. We then have to accept that when we do, the butterfly effect ripples to other players, because once you blow the roof, others will want to fly through as well.
{Ed025's Note - im with you Faith..
18 Feb 2026 19:12:36
Another itk, don't believe a word of it. Think he'd be more than happy with 250,000 a week. Just making stuff up.