Liverpool coach Arne Slot has revealed that he is not bothered about the contract situation of the trio of Mohammed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The three players are out of contract at the end of the season, and there is presently no hope of tying any of them down before May.
Surprisingly, the three players have played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s rise to the top of the Premier League table.
Mohammed Salah is leading the Premier League scoring and assist charts with 27 goals and 17 assists, with a series of match-winning performances.
Van Dijk has been ever-present in the defence with his leadership qualities, while Alexander-Arnold was enjoying one of his best seasons in Liverpool colours before getting injured against PSG.
Meanwhile, reports emerged on Saturday that Alexander-Arnold has agreed a deal to join Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of the season.
However, Slot is not bothered about the situation while praising the players for playing well for the team despite their contract uncertainty.
He said, “It’s a situation that has been there for eight months now, and all three players have performed so well under these circumstances, so it doesn’t affect me at all.
“I think there was a bit of noise about us losing against Paris St-Germain and us losing against Newcastle as well. I always try to be rational. I was a bit more frustrated about the final because I think we deserved to lose that one. For the first time, we deserved to lose a football game.”
The Dutch manager also revealed that Alexander-Arnold is focused on his recovery from injury and refused to comment on his transfer links to Real Madrid.
Slot said: “His situation is unfortunately that he is injured; otherwise, people would have probably spoken about him and said that he had one or two brilliant performances for the England team. But he’s injured, and for him that means he is fully focused on his recovery, and for us that means we are trying to help him to be back as soon as he can.
“For the rest, of course, for eight months it went a bit up and down maybe, with all kinds of talks about him, Virgil or Mo. But we have never been focused on those talks; we have always been focused on what we have to do.
“For Virgil and Mo, who are trying to win the Merseyside derby, and for Trent, that is making sure he can get fit as soon as he can.”
Slot has urged his players to face the remaining nine games like finals as they aim to win their first Premier League title since 2020.
He said, “We are all looking forward to the upcoming nine games [in the Premier League]. Players are looking refreshed, in my opinion.
“But it wasn’t all negative. We played a final against a very good Newcastle team and played a very good game in defeat to Paris St-Germain. We played the best game, in my opinion, but unfortunately lost on penalties.
“Now it is going to be nine finals. These games are very important for us, starting with Everton. Not only because it is the Merseyside derby, but because we are in such a good position in the league.”
Liverpool leads second-placed Arsenal with 12 points from 29 matches, with nine matches remaining.
The Reds crashed out of the Champions League and also lost to Newcastle United in the final of the Carabao Cup in March.
