Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer agree on who Liverpool should sacrifice amid contract saga

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have both concurred that, if they were forced to lose one of Liverpool's three superstars whose contracts are winding down, they would reluctantly opt to part ways with Virgil van Dijk .

Arne Slot's Liverpool side has kicked off the campaign in stellar fashion, marred only by a surprising 1-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest, yet they still sit comfortably at the Premier League summit. However, there's an undercurrent of concern at Anfield , with the contracts of Mohamed Salah , Trent Alexander-Arnold , and Van Dijk all ticking towards their 2025 expiry.

On the Rest Is Football podcast , when the Match of the Day pundits were asked which of the trio they'd be most willing to see leave Anfield, both Lineker and Shearer reluctantly pointed towards the towering Dutch defender , Van Dijk.

Lineker initiated the discussion, saying: "I would say you keep Trent because he's in his 20s and the other two are into their 30s."

Shearer chimed in with agreement, adding: "Local boy, all of that, yeah. I agree with that. But, there's an argument for all of them, isn't there? I'm amazed that all three of them have been allowed to get into their last year."

Lineker didn't hold back on his views: "Trent's been heavily linked with Real Madrid. It's hard to turn down Real Madrid, to be honest. But, I'd also have to side with Mo because I'm a striker. Irreplaceable. But they're all brilliant, they're all absolutely great players, and they've been superb for Liverpool for a long time."

Alan Shearer echoed the sentiment, clearly stating: "Me too, only because of that fact it's harder to find goalscorers."

Micah Richards then chimed in on the matter, first by labeling the decision "an impossible question" and admitting his difficulty in choosing. He explained his stance: "Without Van Dijk, Liverpool don't win the league," but concluded by saying, "Trent 100 per cent because he's the youngest, definitely."

He summed up his thoughts cautiously: "I wouldn't let any of them go, but I feel as though you could still win the league without Trent. If you've got a solid center-half partnership and Salah's scoring all the goals... I'm not answering it!"

When quizzed about the situation, new manager Slot gave nothing away, maintaining his poker face. "Again, I'll give the boring answer, which you're going to get from me as long as there's no news about this, but we don't talk about contract situations over here," he outlined during his pre-Crystal Palace press conference.

"Is it distracting? Is that the word you used for me? No, it isn't because I'm fully focused on the individuals in the team, and they're part of the team. I'm just focused on trying to work with them in the best possible way to get the best out of them."

Liverpool.com says: Ideally, the Reds would simply be able to get all three players tied down to extensions. Losing any of the trio for nothing would be bad business and each still has a lot to give. Sporting director Richard Hughes has a big job on his hands, however, in order to get all three signed. He was left with a mammoth task.