Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants to see Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold stay at the Reds.
The trio, key to Liverpool’s recent successes, are all out of contract this summer, and negotiations over new deals have yet to bear fruit.
Klopp, speaking during the unveiling of his new role at Red Bull, addressed the situation with a mix of seriousness and humor.
“He (Salah) is the biggest striker Liverpool had in modern times. Fantastic player, a fantastic human being, an outstanding athlete, best ambassador (Egypt) could have been. Fantastic really in very much all departments. So I hope he will stay at Liverpool,” said Klopp.
“From my point of view, I would love all three of them to extend their contracts, but I don’t know. They didn’t tell me.”
Asked about the Liverpool stars possibly joining one of Red Bull’s clubs, he added: “Oh, yeah – Virgil, I’m pretty sure he would love to have now five more years at Liverpool and then between 41 and 44 for New York Red Bulls because he probably underestimates US football. But open arms, no problem.
“Mo, yes, would love to – I don’t think we have a chance to pay him to be honest.
“And then Trent, yeah, and he could finally learn to defend, eh? I can’t believe that you all discuss this still, it’s so poor and I’m really happy I’m not part of that.
“I watched the press conference when he (Klopp’s successor Arne Slot) had to talk about it, and you think ‘Oh my God, they still don’t understand it’!
“And yes he didn’t play well against Manchester United (the 2-2 draw at Anfield on January 5), but if you would make such a fuss of him when he plays well, like you make a fuss of it when he doesn’t play well, that would be really a cool planet.”
