Earlier this week, it emerged that Liverpool are hopeful of clinching a new deal for Trent Alexander-Arnold, and it seems he isn’t the only player whose future the Anfield hierarchy want to secure.
According to CaughtOffside, the Reds are ready to make contact with the representatives of Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip to begin negotiations over potential contract extensions for the duo.
As it stands, both players will be leaving Merseyside as free agents next summer, but while talks over new deals for the duo haven’t yet commenced, it’s understood that the club are set to put the wheels in motion in that regard imminently.
The report claims that Jurgen Klopp is particularly keen to retain the ex-Barcelona midfielder, while the Cameroon centre-back recently hinted that he’d like to stay at Liverpool beyond June 2024.
At 32 years of age each, Thiago and Matip are two of the three oldest outfield players in Jurgen Klopp’s squad (sandwiching Virgil van Dijk); and with their respective contracts expiring next summer as it stands, some may have expected the club to let them leave and clear their combined £300k-per-week wages from the books.
However, the Liverpool hierarchy clearly still believe that they could both continue to make an important contribution at Anfield beyond the expiry of their current deals.
The midfielder hasn’t yet played this season due to a long-term hip injury (Transfermarkt), but he’ll hopefully be back in action soon to offer further strength in depth to a midfield which was very nicely replenished over the summer.
Meanwhile, Matip stepped up commendably in recent weeks when Klopp had several defenders unavailable, and you can be sure that the manager was hugely grateful to have him to call upon in the enforced absences of Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool allowed a plethora of players to run out their contracts earlier this year, but there appears to be a determination not to let that happen to such a large extent in 2024.
Even if the duo have to accept bit-part roles going forward, their wealth of experience – and the depth they’d offer in their respective positions – could be vital to have in the dressing room at Anfield.
The priorities should be sorting out the underpaid players. Diaz £55k/wk, Curtis Jones £15k/wk and Kelleher £10k/wk. Diaz in particular, do we not want to keep our star left winger? We know contracts are worthless. Why are we paying him so much less than than all of our other strikers