With a matter of months remaining until the curtain comes down on another season, Liverpool are sure to be mulling over the contracts of six players.
Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, goalkeeper Adrian and on-loan midfielder Arthur Melo are all in the final months of their current terms. As a result, their futures have plunged into uncertainty at Anfield.
The end of the 2022/23 season is quickly approaching and it is one Liverpool want to sign off and push past quickly. A dismal league campaign has their Champions League qualification hopes hanging on by a thread as they sit nine points off the top four with two games in hand.
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It's no secret that the Reds are bracing themselves for a manic summer where Jurgen Klopp will oversee, possibly, the largest restructuring of his squad since he took over from Brendan Rodgers in 2015.
What has been said about the six players who are set to be out of contract in the summer?
Roberto Firmino
Roberto Firmino remains the most used player under the German head coach since he arrived seven years ago.
This season he has seven goals in 16 Premier League games for the Reds and has recently returned to the fold after an ongoing injury issue that saw him miss six games.
He has been reduced to substitute appearances in recent weeks with the reluctance to rush the Brazilian back into the first-team with the treatment table troubles that have plagued Klopp's selection this term.
However, talks over a new Liverpool deal are "on the right track" with the striker expected to make a decision on his future this month, his agent revealed at the beginning of February.
"It’s a very long relationship between Roberto and Liverpool," Roger Wittmann said to Sky Germany. "Roberto feels good. At the moment, we’re in a great exchange and in February we’ll probably know where the journey is going.
"But Roberto also has to have a say in order to reach an agreement with Liverpool. We’re on the right track (and) we’re having really good talks with Liverpool. They’re a superbly positioned club."
Naby Keïta
There is a growing feeling that the remaining months of the season will be Naby Keita's last in a Liverpool shirt. The midfielder was signed from RB Leipzig for a fee in the region of £50m and took over the coveted number eight shirt but has never managed to reach the heights expected.
He arrived from Germany with a glowing reputation and with the promise that he could be the central midfielder that would transform Klopp's midfield. While there have been flashes of that for the Reds, it's certainly a case of 'what if' when it comes to describing Keita's time at Anfield.
During the January transfer window, we saw a number of clubs begin to be linked with Keita as he entered the final six months of his contract. A return to the Bundesliga was mooted, as well as a move to the Turkish Super Lig.
An article from GOAL at the start of February ranked the likelihood of departures at Liverpool with Keita being scored an eight out of 10 for his chances of leaving with no breakthrough in talks.
Arthur Melo
Arthur was signed in the closing days of the summer transfer window after an injury to Jordan Henderson forced the arm of the Liverpool boss to jolt into the market. However, his time on Merseyside hasn't gone as the Brazilian midfielder would've envisaged.
He has been reduced to just one first-team appearance, coming on as a substitute in the sobering defeat away at Napoli in the opening Champions League group game. Injuries have hampered his temporary spell on Merseyside, only recently returning to training before he started for Barry Lewtas' U21s in their emphatic win over Leicester City on Saturday.
After being omitted from the squad to play in the latter stages of the elite European competition, The Athletic reported there has "never been any prospect" of triggering the option to buy.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's future at Liverpool also looks uncertain with no signs of negotiations to keep him at Anfield beyond the end of the terms which expire in June.
After his impressive displays during the 2018 run to the Champions League final, his season-ending knee injury hampered him and has never seen him reach the same heights since.
The ECHO's Liverpool correspondent Paul Gorst suggested that the need to restructure the midfield could lead to a quiet exit for the 29-year-old.
And in a recent interview with BBC, Oxlade-Chamberlain pointed out that as his son grows older, he wants to continue at the highest level. With just eight Premier League appearances this season, 17 per cent of them as a starter, the suggestion is that he has his eyes on a move away from the Reds.
"I'm getting to that stage of my career now where I'm not a kid anymore and I just want to stay at the top for as long as I can," he said. "I suppose [fatherhood has changed me] a little bit, yes because you're doing it for more than yourself at the point when you have a child and become a father.
"A big motivation for me is trying to stay at a really good level for as long as possible so that my boy can see me at that level. My dad did it but he didn't have me until he was 32. So by the time he was 35, well, he was clinging on by that point! My football memories of him being a superstar are mainly from the old Masters football (indoor tournaments).
"I'm 29 now and my son is coming up towards two, so he should be able to remember me as a Premier League player and it gives you that little bit of motivation to stay at that level and make your son proud. Hopefully I can try that and do that for him. I guess it's a new-found motivation in that way."
James Milner
James Milner remains one of the best pieces of business that Liverpool have done in recent history as they've been forced to negotiate on small finances, comparable to their rivals in the Premier League.
He arrived as a free agent after earning Premier League titles with Manchester City but in his time at Anfield, he has eclipsed his previous accolades in his career, surpassing the appearances at his previous clubs with the Reds.
His involvement with Liverpool now sees him utilised more as a squad player with late substitute appearances or starts up to the hour mark. The 37-year-old brings the average age of the squad up, but his future remains unknown after signing a year extension last season.
“We have different plans for Milly but Milly wants to keep playing, and when you see him play the other night [against Wolves] I think everyone understands that," said Klopp in January. "You can’t judge him normal for his age. He is 37, but he doesn’t look a day like this when he is in training. He is an incredibly important player and in this game (Wolves) you saw on the pitch as well.
"It is not that Milly expects to play 64 games a season but in a 64-game season Milly could be extremely important. That is how it is. Milly has reached 600 games and most of them were for Liverpool. Even a player who had a few clubs can end up at ‘his’ club and I would consider Liverpool as ‘his’ club, and I am pretty sure the club should use his character and his mindset because it is really special.
"There might be more fancy players out there but no one with a similar mindset and that makes him incredibly valuable for us. And it is not because I am ‘too loyal’; it is just a fact."
Adrián
The case of Liverpool goalkeepers is a difficult one. Alisson occupies the number one spot but until last season, Adrian held the back-up position until his performances lead to Caoimhin Kelleher usurping him.
The Spaniard will be remembered for his heroics in the UEFA Super Cup penalty shootout but when deputising for the Brazilian, it hasn't been one for the faint-hearted.
Signed from West Ham on a free transfer, he makes a great third choice but with the likes of Harvey Davies and Marcelo Pitaluga knocking on the door it remains to be seen whether a punt will be made on an extension for the shot-stopper.
Undoubtedly, he is a character in the dressing room as he has shown during the celebrations of Liverpool's rise to the summit. There have been no reports of talks over an extension for Adrian in recent months and like many others, he may slide out the backdoor into the free agents market.
However, he will leave as a trophy-winning Liverpool goalkeeper.
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