Liverpool's worrying update on Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah contracts

There has been contact between Liverpool and key trio Virgil van Dijk , Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah over possible new contracts, but talks with all three players have reportedly not found common ground.

Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Salah are all into the final nine months of their contracts at Anfield, and as things stand will be able to negotiate with foreign clubs from January 1 ahead of potentially leaving Liverpool for free next summer.

All three players have been integral to Liverpool's success in recent years, and many believe that the club has blundered by allowing each of them to enter the final year of their deals.

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The Times says that Liverpool remains at an impasse with Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Salah, and that the decision to open talks with Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah over contract extensions was partly motivated by a desire to avoid a repeat of the situation the club finds itself in with arguably its three most important players.

Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Salah have largely kept quiet over the issue, but there was a suggestion from captain Van Dijk during the September international break that he wants to stay at Liverpool. “At both teams (Liverpool and the Netherlands) I am still Virgil van Dijk, the big leader," Van Dijk said. "And I certainly want to remain that for the next two years."

Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, said two weeks ago that he has no intention of letting the situation play out in public. He said: "I have been at the club 20 years now. I have signed four or five contract extensions and none of those have been played out in public - and this one won't be either.

"The most important thing [behind my decision] is [the opportunity to win] trophies if I'm honest. I want to win trophies, I am a player who is highly motivated by winning things and being elite. If you have a personality that is an elite athlete who will do anything to win, then that is what drives them.

Alexander-Arnold has been linked with a possible free transfer to Real Madrid, and those links could intensify after Los Blancos' current first-choice right-back, Dani Carvajal, sustained a season-ending knee injury over the weekend. Carvajal, 32, ruptured two ligaments and a tendon against Villarreal, and his age coupled with the uncertain recovery period that is often associated with serious knee injuries could see Madrid step up its interest in Alexander-Arnold.

Salah, meanwhile, frightened Liverpool fans in September when, after the Reds' win over Manchester United, he said: “This is my last year with the club and I want to enjoy it. I feel I am free to play football – we will see what happens next year.”

At the time, many took that comment as Salah saying he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of this season, but it's believed that Salah's remarks were misinterpreted, and rather than saying that this season will definitely be his last at the club, he was referencing the fact that he is into the last year of his current contract.