There’s so much premature compensation in this thread it’s unbelievable.
It feels as though the whole “arrogant” thing has been a thing for several years now, yet you’d think the coaching staff (not to mention the more senior players) would have cut him down to size if that was a problem…
Anyone thinking that losing TAA won’t be a blow is deluding themselves. Make no mistake about it.
Also, the amount of expectations placed on Bradley, and Bajcetic for that matter, on the basis of a handful of promising appearances is ridiculous.
He’s going. For nothing. And he’s going to become a galactico at Madrid alongside Mbappé , Bellingham and Vinicius , earn a fucking fortune and win everything. Can you blame him really ?
Trent is one of the most talented players to have come out of this club’s formation, and he is a genuine world-class player. We can’t replace him one for one. That being said, I wouldn’t put blame on the club for this situation. What can they do if he refuses to sign a new contract? I’m sure that they have already stretched themselves as much as they could, and already offered him the maximum they can afford. If he doesn’t sign, there is not much they can do, is it?
In the end, it’s up to Trent. He can go wherever he wants. We had the situation with Gerrard once, after the 2005 final. Fortunately for us, he decided to stay and to become a one-club man. We can only hope that Trent, after having weighed up all options available to him, will take the same decision. Fingers crossed!
I am not doing down Trent or hyping up Bradley.
I just feel we have a very talented player in Conor and I think he fits the future well for us.
They shouldn’t have let his contract run down for starters. I believe that his last contract was a four-year one, no option of an additional year. We tend to make fun of Man United - and rightly so at times - but at least they know how to tie down their academy products to long term contracts.
Our club are about to lose their best academy product since Steven Gerrard because of lack of long term planning - for me, it comes down to this.
So is everyone here who thinks he’s going suggesting that his own statements in the media that he wants to stay are just PR statements? That the kissing of the camera was just to big up his own ego by imitating someone else, and not to satisfy that childhood fan in him?
I’m trying to clarify, because if for example, there were to be rumours swirling around about Madrid sniffing after Salah and Van Dijk too, would we be saying the same things about them?
Then what, hold him hostage until he signs a new one?
The issues are still the same, no matter then or now. You can’t make someone sign a new contract they don’t want to, and the club shouldn’t offer a contract worth more than they think that the player is worth.
It is so hard with Trent as his ability is through the roof, he works hard but does have lapses in concentration.
As many say, if he stays fantastic and for me it would be sad if he leaves.
The problem for Trent, money wise, is his position, because he isn’t the key to us winning things as you can win things with mediocre fullbacks, i.e Gary Neville, whereas you struggle if you have mediocre CB’s or strikers and if he wants to be paid the same as 30 goals a season striker then it isn’t feasible due to him being a fullback, although probably the best offensive fullback ever.
My problem and where I think the club dropped the ball somewhere between Ward’s departure and Schmadtke’s eventual part-time appointment is the timing. Since we’re planning to extend TAA, Van Dijk and Salah, the club should have initiated negotiations with all of them more than a year ago, not this past summer.
None of them should have entered their last year without a firm offer on the table.
I think that’s only really true of Alexander-Arnold. But even then there are mitigating circumstances because of Jürgen’s impending departure and even prior to then, the whole point about wage structure.
Salah is 32, turning 33. van Dijk will be 34 at the end of the season. For all the talk about longevity and their professionalism, they won’t be able to fight time forever. The statistics around this in modern football also doesn’t lend much support to the idea. At this age, it’s usually the point when a reduced contract is discussed, but it’s not clear that either of them would entertain that idea.
I’m very confused about the amount of slagging off Salah gets contrasted with the blame on the club for not extending his contract. Surely if you view him as declining then the club should be rightly praised for being wary about being saddled with an expensive contract for a player who isn’t worth it anymore?
And if you don’t resolve the situation of those two, you wouldn’t be able to resolve the situation of Alexander-Arnold, who would be the obvious symbol of the club after these two leave.
Yep. He’s been too cute by half with some of his statements , intimating that he wants to stay while not formally committing at the same time. It might be the cynic in me , but it reeks of a carefully managed exit.
They should have offerred him a five year contract back then, maybe even tried to negotiate an option for an additional year. They should have reviewed that contract after two years, not start thinking about an extension three months before he can sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club. That’s how well organised clubs do it.
Why would he formally commit when it would weaken his bargaining position as a star player entering his prime years in what is likely to set the tone for the earnings for the rest of his career?
And I’m sure the club is more than aware of that hence why the caginess from both sides.
That is a very big assumption that they didn’t do that. Two years would put it in summer 2023, which was when we were in the midst of a massive rebuild and trying to figure out what the team would look like after that. That was also during the time when he was being pushed into the new role of being the auxiliary 6.
Again, he’s not just any player, but seen as one of the big stars of the team, and would likely to be pushing to be paid accordingly. I don’t think it’s as simple as you’re making it out to be. And let’s not forget, we started facing other issues by then with Jürgen making it known he wanted to leave.
What would happen if we gave him a new contract with the accompanying effects on the whole wage structure, and then he didn’t fit into the new team?
Just to be clear, I’m not saying the club’s played a blinder, I’m just pointing out that the situation is a lot more complicated than just throwing money blindly at the three big names whose contracts are expiring. It’s quite clear that the club cares a lot more about wages than transfer fees, so they would be very cautious around this.
So with Klopp telling the club last November that he was going to finish up, and then the rest of the coaching team decided that was the right time to finish the project, and with no T.D or D.o.F, who do you think should have handled those negotiations?
The reality is, that when Klopp told Hogan of his desire to leave, FSG took the opportunity to restructure the management side of the club from top to bottom, which takes time to get peices into place, then you find yourself in the transfer window, so your looking at new deals, and what players may/may not be aquirable which runs through until September, so the chances of being able to sit down with Trent, Virgil and Mo to negotiate new deals until the last 6 weeks has been very limited to almost nonexistant.
Unlike the Stevie saga when 99% of the fans were really concerned he may move, this time around, the fanbase seems split as to whether they are ‘really bothered’ or not.
That in itself tells its own story me thinks.
TAA as a local lad will have certain attachments to Anfield. His brothers, and other members of his entourage, who will be down his ear at all times, may have other ideas though about the bright lights of Madrid.
Personally, I don’t really care if he goes or not
I’m not bothered about Trent , whether he stays or leaves. He’s been great for the club and has every right to play football wherever he wants.
What’ll make me pissed off is when Real decide that they don’t need him anymore and sell him to any of the English clubs for a huge profit.
I reckon Jurgen leaving has been a pretty big influencing factor on Trent holding off, coupled with his bromance with Jude.
Well within his right to have a look, but hopefully he sees things moving in the right direction under Slot, and generally with the club since Hughes was appointed and Edwards back in the fold, and signs the contract.
For a lad that has openly said he dreams of being Liverpool captain, moving to Real would be the end of that I feel - once he leaves I don’t think a return with the same level of support from the fans would be there. Will be interesting to see how it pans out and what he sees as priority.
I’m sure he’s got plenty in his ear telling him to stay, as well as plenty saying he should go. He’s got some very big decisions to make - go play video game footy with Real vs doing something that means more (his words!).