Liverpool could be about to lose as many as five players over the summer, with Real Madrid circling.
The Reds are top of the league by seven points, even after dropping two on Tyneside midweek in a 3-3 draw with Newcastle United. Arne Slot has reinvigorated this side, failing to win just two out of his first 20 games in charge.
But difficulties lie ahead for Liverpool, as they plan for the future – and several players have uncertain futures, including the obvious three.
Real Madrid have now been linked with five Liverpool players
Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are all out of contract at the end of the season. Liverpool have until January 1 to agree deals with the trio before they can sign pre-contracts with European clubs.
Alexander-Arnold has been said to be on the cusp of a move to Real, while Van Dijk recently fielded questions of whether he could move to the Bernabeu, too.
Now, Spanish outlet Fichajes have claimed that Los Blancos are chasing Salah, too, calling him “the missing piece of a dream attack” that also comprises of Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe – with all three players ranked in the top 10 of FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now.
On top of the three players out of contract at the end of the season, the European champions have been linked with Curtis Jones, while Ryan Gravenberch is said to be on their wishlist, too. The report says that Real are also chasing Alphonso Davies on top of that, too.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, the idea of one club signing five players from Liverpool is absurd, even by Real Madrid's standards – but we would be surprised if they didn't end up with any of them.
All three of the out-of-contract trio could easily stay at this point with only Alexander-Arnold seriously linked – and as we've stated before, it seems almost impossible that the Merseysiders would sell either Jones or Gravenberch, either, given their form.
As for Real Madrid, it seems rather fanciful to bring in another attacker on top of an already stacked frontline that is struggling to gel as it is. This seems like it could be a rumour too far, perhaps to speed up talks between Salah and Liverpool over a new deal.
Liverpool take on Everton this weekend when Premier League action returns.
