As the futures of three Liverpool stalwarts remain precariously in the balance, a former Manchester City defender believes there’ll be one major departure from Anfield next year.
Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are all about to enter the final nine months of their respective deals, and while Nedum Onuoha has backed the latter two to extend their stay on Merseyside, he’s explained why he thinks the Egyptian won’t follow suit.
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Speaking on the BBC Planet Premier League Podcast, the 37-year-old said: “I think it will be Salah, to be honest. I think it will be him. He seems way too chilled out, if you know what I mean. He’s probably making plans for something else.
“I’m notoriously wrong, but I think it’ll be two of the three. Of the ones I think could leave I think it’s Salah, Van Dijk and then Trent if the contract doesn’t find its way to where he lives or he doesn’t have a pen or something like that. Otherwise, he’s totally signing.”
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To us, it seems that Onuoha is reliant on guesswork to stoke the flames over a possible Liverpool exit for Salah.
The Egyptian has generally given off a composed demeanour during his seven years at Anfield, routinely displaying an ice-cold confidence to his finishing on the pitch and cutting a relaxed figure away from matchday.
The manner of his performances in the early weeks of this season, with four goals and four assists to his name already, doesn’t indicate a player who’s desperate to get out of his current club and force a move elsewhere.
Although we disagree with Onuoha when it comes to Salah’s Liverpool future, we hope the ex-Man City player is spot-on with his vividly confident verdict on Trent, which marks a welcome contract to the likes of Chris Sutton and Graeme Souness talking up a prospective move to Real Madrid.
It feels as if the saga over that duo and Van Dijk has rumbled on for eternity at this stage, and it’ll be a relief as much as a delight if the trio were to pen new deals at Anfield before the year is out and finally end the seemingly interminable discourse over their respective futures.
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