A striker at the center of a contract dispute approached Arne Slot at a pivotal time, expressing frustration and impatience. He made it clear to his manager that numerous clubs across Europe were vying for his signature, offering both the recognition and financial rewards he believed he deserved. Such discussions have the potential to disrupt team dynamics, but Slot handled the situation calmly and pragmatically.

Slot, often seen as a composed and understated figure, revealed his ability to communicate effectively in challenging moments. In a private conversation, he delivered a straightforward message to his star forward.

“Everything you’re saying can be dealt with later—those clubs will always be there,” Slot assured him. “But for now? We have trophies to win.”

This exchange wasn’t about Mohamed Salah at Liverpool’s AXA training ground, but rather Santiago Giménez, the talented Mexican striker who was crucial to Feyenoord’s 2022-23 Eredivisie triumph.

Before that season began, Giménez had grown restless, but Slot couldn’t risk losing such a vital player while aiming for success. A solution was reached: Giménez was persuaded to sign a contract extension, and his commitment was rewarded when Feyenoord secured the KNVB Cup in April.

 

Arne Slot faces a dilemma at Anfield with three Liverpool stars on expiring deals this year

 

Trent Alexander-Arnold is been pursued by Spanish giants Real Madrid in the January window

 

However, the situation in Merseyside will not hold any terrors for Liverpool’s Dutch manager

The situation currently confronting him at Liverpool, then, will not hold any terrors. Bulletins on the futures of Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been asked for more than weather forecasts and, within some areas of the club, that has led to growing exasperation.

Slot, though, has remained sanguine and that’s because he hasn’t lost sight of what is most important on the horizon: trophies.

Top of the league domestically and in Europe, 180 minutes away from a first trip to Wembley, this is the position every manager would want to be in.

Many fans around Liverpool could do with following the head coach’s mantra. The desperation for clarity on what the future holds for three men who have been kingpins for much of the last decade is obvious and understandable but it’s in danger of becoming all-consuming and distracting.

With the greatest respect to Salah, van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, whether they put pen-to-paper tomorrow, next week, next month or not at all is not what matters. There are big prizes to be won and only unity and focus will make it possible for those aims to be achieved.

At Anfield on Sunday, in that breathless 2-2 draw with Manchester United, you could feel impatience creeping up the terraces like ivy, sprouting in different directions when passes were misplaced or attacks broke down. Alexander-Arnold, thanks to last week’s mischief from Real Madrid, bore the brunt.

Slot might have been surprised about the focus his right-back attracted afterwards but, as someone who is always trying to educate himself, he will have learned another lesson about how unique Merseyside is in terms of its views and expectations on football.

When you are born in the area and play for one of the clubs, different standards apply. Only men such as Steven Gerrard and Steve McManaman, Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley will appreciate what Alexander-Arnold is going through as he looks beyond the city limits and wonders what is next.

 

Slot found himself in a similar situation back at Feyenoord with striker Santiago Gimenez

 

Certain players will appreciate what Alexander-Arnold is going through as he looks to leave

 

‘I am fine with it,’ said Van Dijk, when asked on Sunday about the noise.

‘Trent has his own people around him, his family and we are there as well. He wants to perform in the best way possible, like we all do. That is the main focus. In my opinion, maybe ask him, that is the distraction… the game.’

Who knows? Perhaps the experience against United and the dissection that followed will nudge the England international a little closer to Spain.

We don’t know, as he isn’t talking publicly about his contract unlike Salah, who for six weeks has provided a running commentary.

His latest proclamation came via Sky Sports when he revealed this would be the last time he played against United.

This has all been very effective, as it has whipped up emotion in the fanbase in a way never seen before to the extent you wonder if some value his signature more than a trophy.

Another three years for Salah or an 11th League Cup? Pose that question on social media and the replies would make for fascinating reading when, really, the mantra of Bill Shankly – ‘Liverpool Football Club exists to win trophies’ – should be all that matters.

To be clear, there is no suggestion in the slightest that any of the trio would do what Lutsharel Geertruida, a Netherlands international who was wanted by Aston Villa last summer but now plays for RB Leipzig, threatened to do Slot in the summer of 2022.

 

Liverpool fans made their feelings known on the contractual uncertainty of their three stars

 

Lutsharel Geertruida, a former Feyenoord star, similarly threatened to walk out on Slot

 

Geertruida dropped the kind of bombshell on his manager before the start of that campaign that could have ruined everything. He was going to go on strike to get a move that he wanted but Slot handled things meticulously and made the athletic defender a key component in his plans.

So influential was Geertruida, he played 41 times in the campaign and scored three goals, propelling him into the Netherlands squad for the first time. He listened to Slot, wanted to learn from him and the rewards for remain patient duly arrived.

It can be that way for this trio, too. They are single-minded winners and you suspect Graeme Souness can see something of himself in them, in that he was able to play with freedom and desire in 1984, even though his contract was expiring and a move to Italy was in the offing.

Souness led Liverpool to the First Division title, their fourth European Cup and, for good measure, scored the decisive goal in the League Cup final replay against Everton. The medals and the glory really mattered, everything else was immaterial. What was true 40 years ago should be true now.