Manchester City's new Erling Haaland contract has shown Liverpool exactly how they should have approached their own player negotiations before the matter developed into a crisis.
Haaland has signed a new contract with the reigning Premier League champions, which will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2034. City are said to have worked for six months on the nine-and-a-half-year deal, which is worth more than £500,000 a week.
The 25-year-old's commitment to City for another ten years is a huge boost for the club given their poor form and uncertainty over their financial burden. Haaland, who joined from Dortmund in the summer of 2022, has been linked with Real Madrid over the past year but the Spanish giants will now have to sign him the hard way if they want to.
And the way City signed one of their best players for the future is an important lesson for rivals and league leaders Liverpool, who still face the terrifying possibility of their three most crucial players leaving as free agents this summer.
Haaland's original contract expired at the end of the 2026/27 season, with outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain desperate to terminate the Norwegian's services before his departure. The former Barcelona man also wanted to keep the negotiations with Haaland secret, something Liverpool failed to do and for which he paid the price.
Mohamed Salah signed his last contract extension with Liverpool in 2022, meaning the club had just under three years to extend his contract further. The Reds might have imagined that the form of their Egyptian talisman would have declined by the time he reached the age of 32, but their lack of decisiveness over his future – in not signing him with a large cash transfer to Al each year -Hilal had sold – and – half ago – left them in their current situation.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, signed a four-year contract in 2021. That means the Reds have had even longer to negotiate a deal for their academy graduate before he enters the final year of his contract.
That's something players like Julian Ward, Liverpool's former technical and sporting director, should have done better before leaving his successor Richard Hughes with a huge task. Starting contract negotiations early also has the added benefit of preventing the resulting media frenzy.
The nearing end of the aforementioned duo and Virgil van Dijk's contracts means there is increasing speculation about linking them to other clubs, when this could have been avoided.
New head coach Arne Slot has had the unenviable task of answering questions about their future week in and week out, when his priority should be winning the league. City's proactive attitude means Pep Guardiola – or his eventual successor – can avoid such uncomfortable questions.
Salah has even come out straight after the matches and discussed his contract situation. In November he said he was “disappointed” by the club's failure to offer him a new contract. Such talk has the effect of upsetting the rest of the squad as they consider losing such an important teammate.
Alexander-Arnold, who like Haaland has often been linked with Real Madrid, has faced a barrage of criticism from the likes of pundit Jamie Carragher and fans for allegedly attracting interest from the Spanish side. Los Blancos submitted a £20 million bid for the right-back on New Year's Eve but it was rejected.
Alexander-Arnold has clearly been influenced by such speculation, with his dismal performance against Manchester United earlier this month and recent 'silence' celebration appearing to be a reference to the transfer rumors and his form suffering – another distraction as Slot's men should be fully focused. about winning games like the Premier League and the Champions League.
The Liverpool trio, as evidenced by Salah's bold comments this season, now have the upper hand in negotiations when it comes to demanding huge wages. While the Anfield faithful will be praying to the football gods that all three remain at the club beyond the summer, there is a valuable lesson to be learned for the club.
Comments