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FSG’s £184m buffer to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk if they quit Liverpool
The psychodrama that is Liverpool’s contract stand-off with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah shows no signs of easing any time soon.
The Egyptian King’s not-so-cryptic Instagram post after Liverpool’s rip-roaring ꦯ2-2🐷 draw with Manchester United at the weekend was thꦓe latest act in a saga that has, in truth, become a bit of a circus.
Salah, whose £350,000-a-week Liverpool deal expires on 30 June, shared a picture of himself alongside Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, who make up the so-called ‘contractless trio’.
There was no caption, just as there has seemingly been no progress in talks with Liverpool’s Boston-headquartered owners FSG (Fenway Sports Group).
The post provoke♏d a slightly exasper🍌ated response from former Red Jamie Carragher to which Salah, or whoever mans his X account, responded: ‘I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with me.’
Salah – who is an ambassador for Adidas, Gucci and Pepsi among 𓆏others – probably didn’t write꧅ the post.
Few players at any level manage their own social media presence these days, not least those sponsored by the world’s biggest brands, who are inherently wary of how their partners present themselves𝐆.
However, the 32-year-old will certainly have given his blessing for the PR company tha𝓰t represents him to take a somewhat, shall we say, impudent approach to agitating for a new contract.
Team Salah’s cheeky strategy is a world🍒 away from the modus operandi of FSG, who own almost🍰 £15bn worth of assets across sports, media and entertainment. They are forensic, discreet and dispassionate.
In that sense, perhaps the all-time Premier League great’s approach is the perfect fo🐠il for his paymasters’ across the Atlantic. Ramy Abbas Issa, Salah’s agent, lawyer and close friend, seems to think so.
Abbas has previous when it comes to these sorts of bombastic negotiations. He is a deal broker, after all, and the most successful deal brokers generate as muc🐻h noise as possible.
In Salah’s last round🦩 of contract talks in 2022, the Colombian intermeꦡdiary’s Twitter feed was reliable fodder for the Liverpool press, who were desperate for updates on proceedings.
After the attacker eventually inked his new deal, he and Abbas endorsed and provided quotes for a Harvar🤡d Business School case study of the negotiations.
That paper provided virtually unprecedented insight into elite-level contract talks, as well as the revelation that Salah earns close to £1m per week from his wages, image rights and brand deals.
Only three players in history have scored more goals for Liverpool than Salah and his output has been astonishing this season: 38 goal c𒉰ontributions in 27 appearances in all com🐽petitions.
In the Premier League, he has ether or scored or laid on almost 70 per cent of Arne Slot’s side’s goals, so why are FSG ꦦyet to give him what he wants?
Looking at the Liverpool’s finances, it is increasingly difficult to compute, regardless of how extreme Salah’s demand𒅌s are.
- READ MORE: Liverpool and Arsenal set for mu☂lti-mi🔯llion payout after FSG and Stan Kroenke win £99m battle
Liverpool have huge FFP headroom
It has been spuriously reported by one or two outlets that ✅Liverpool are struggling with Profit and Sustain🧸ability Rules (PSR), but that simply is not the case.
While profitability is a distant aim for most Premier League sides 🌳at present, FSG’s club are one of only a handful who, zooming out on the graph, post consistent surpluses.
Now, the world-renowned football finance analyst Swiss Ramble has explored just how much manoeuvrability Liverpool really have when it c🍬omes to🍬 domestic spending rules.
In less than a week, the Premier League will announce which, if any of its clubs, ♛have been charged for PSR breaches for the three-year assessment window up to 30th June 2024.
As relayed by , Liverpool have oceans of space to spend on new signings and contracts should John Henry, Tom Werner and their peers in the FSG boardroom sancti✤on ♌the investment.
“There is plenty of capacity to replace Alexander-Arnold, Salah and van Dijk – if they do end up leaving for pastures new,” he writes.
“Liverpool could afford to lose £184m this season and still be compliant with PSR.
“However, before fans get too excited, Liverpool are clearly unwilling to spend in the transfer market unless they identify a player better than what they already have in their squad.”
What is the latest with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent-Alexander Arnold’s contract talks?
While FSG’s hes𒊎itance to bow to the demands of Salah and Van Dijk are believed to centre on the fact they are 32 and 33 years old respectively, age is not a factor with Alexander-Arnold.
The right-back creator, 26, holds the high card in talks with Liverpool, the club where he has spent all but the first൩ six years of his life.
Alexander-Arnold is coveted by Real Madrid, who are free to negotiate pre-con🃏tract terms with the England man and and have already made an offer of around £20m to secure his signature this Jꦛanuary.
The mood music, however, is that, if Alexander-Arnold does leave, it will be at the end of the season – hopefully with a second Premier League medal as a keepsak༺e.
Van Dijk meanwhile is believed to have be🍸en presented with an opening contract offer, with there being distinctly less hubbub around the Dutchman’s situation.
As quoted by the , Van Dijk seems sanguine about his future, saying there has been noඣ major progress but that he is “calm about it.”
“We’ll see what happens in the future and at this point I have got absolutely no update,” he continued.
“I love the club, the club loves me. I love the fans, the fans love me and it is a very good foundation to be successful.
“In my opinion I can play for another three, four years at least at the highest level. We will see what the future brings.”
The latest on Salah? Save for any updates ahead of Liverpool’s League Cu෴p semi-final first leg against Tottenham tonight, he appears to be a🦩ngling for £400,000-a-week, three-year deal.
Some reports have suggested Salah is open to a one-year deal, which is said to be FSG’s preferred option.
A two-year deal would represent a compromise and FSG may stretch🥀 to a deal worth £400,000 per week if the structure with images rights and fixed-versus-varꦿiable pay is right for them.