A possible area to address…
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00:00And where do you sort of look in terms of Liverpool's business in terms of Liverpool leaving these contracts to almost expire and then going in with deals?
00:10Do you feel it's maybe just a case of the modern game, how tough it is to keep giving these contracts?
00:17You know, we've seen with Chelsea giving, you know, eight, nine, ten year deals to some of these players.
00:22Liverpool haven't gone that way, but they have sort of waited a long time.
00:25It's got the fans questioning, it's got obviously media outlets questioning, you know, futures of certain players, you know, key players as well.
00:32So do you feel it's something Liverpool need to work on and change in the future in terms of leaving these contracts to almost expire and then, you know, leaving the contract talks late?
00:43Well, it's been hard with Liverpool because obviously they had that overtime with Jürgen Klopp and that was the priority last summer.
00:49It's different with Van Dijk and Salah because they are older and maybe the model that Liverpool have, maybe they need to tweak it a little bit if players are going to start playing on longer.
01:03Look to Trent Alexander-Arnold as one, has been a talking point for months now.
01:07Well, it's disappointing because he's not staying, he might be staying, it looks like he's not going to be staying.
01:14It's disappointing that Liverpool won't get a fee for him, but at the end of the day, if he doesn't want to sign a contract, then that's his prerogative.
01:23He's signed up, he's remained committed, and if he wants to leave, then that's the life of a football under contract.
01:32And when people said, well, maybe we should have sold him last summer, well, you don't just sell footballers, it's a football manager.
01:41You've got to have a buyer, first of all.
01:44Was there a buyer for Trent Alexander-Arnold?
01:46You can, you maybe, did Liverpool want to sell Alexander-Arnold?
01:52And do you think, well, let's just have him this year and, look, if he is going to go, then we could, we need to get back into the Champions League.
01:58He's a minimum, I'm a slot coming in. That's what Liverpool need.
02:03You know, we've seen it, they've recorded £57 million pre-tax losses, and Liverpool haven't known that.
02:09They had to get in the Champions League again for next season, and Trent Alexander-Arnold will give them a big boost of doing that,
02:17and he has so with a lot of his performances this season, as I say.
02:20But it's, it's maybe something that needs to be addressed.
02:23I mean, you look at the one with E.P. McInerney now, who's maybe, he's running into his, his last year, 2026, it expires,
02:32and he's not a player that Liverpool would want to lose, certainly not on a three.
02:37So you're looking at that, but sometimes it comes down to the demands of the players as well.
02:42Do Liverpool think, well, maybe they're not worth it.
02:44Liverpool let players go in the past, and they haven't regretted it.
02:48I think there will be a compromise there as well.
02:52It's players' progress, and I think a lot of them will be running their contracts down a lot more,
02:57because financially it's better for footballers.
03:01They can get a signing-on fee, they can maybe get better wages elsewhere,
03:05or even if the wages are matched, or even if they're a bit less,
03:07and if they get a signing-on fee, then it's significant, isn't it?
03:10So it's something that's changing in football, the Chelsea model.
03:14I can't see Liverpool's owners going down that route.
03:19It's an interesting way of them going about it.
03:21They look like they've got a plan.
03:23Somebody must have some sort of plan, but I don't think it's Liverpool's way.
03:26It'll be fine.