Arne Slot says he is not listening to outside noise about Liverpool's star players as speculation continues to swirl around their contract situations.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, who was outspoken about this possibly being his “last year” at Anfield and fueled further speculation on Monday with a cryptic photo on social media, are all walking out at the end of the month their contract. this season.
Salah in particular shone for Liverpool this season, scoring eighteen goals and providing a further thirteen assists in the Premier League. He scored and assisted in eight different games in 2024–25, a league single-season record.
All three players are now free to sign pre-contract deals with non-English clubs, but despite the noise surrounding their futures, Slot says he is not listening to any of it.
“I talk to my players and if there is anything they are concerned about, they share it with me,” Slot said at his pre-match press conference ahead of the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Tottenham.
“What I shared with the players is what we did against Manchester United and what we are doing well against Manchester United.
“That's what we're focused on. I'm not focused on social media posts or what people say. If you do that as a Liverpool manager you have no life because people are always talking about us.”
pic.twitter.com/A37OWspaat
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) January 6, 2025
Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid, who reportedly rejected a bid for his services last week.
The 26-year-old was criticized for his lackluster performance in Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Manchester United last Sunday, as Ruben Amorim's side sent 54% of their attacks down his flank and scored both goals from there.
“I think we were all disappointed with the way we played [against United]not just Trent. First of all about the result,” says Slot.
“Parts of the game we could be quite happy with. There were other parts of our game we weren't completely happy with. That wasn't just Trent. There were more things in the game that we could have done better.
“Trent didn't play his best game. I've already said that, but it's not for the first time in his life.
“He has played so well in many games for this club. Now this was not his best, like for some others. We will just pick it up and start training again today.”
Liverpool now take on Spurs in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday.
The Reds came out on top with a thrilling 6-3 victory when the teams met in the Premier League in December. The last English team to score more than seven goals against Spurs in a single season in all competitions was Arsenal in 2010–11. while the most any team has scored in a season at Spurs is eight (Chelsea in 2001–02).
Holders Liverpool are looking to reach a second successive final after progressing from seven of their last nine EFL Cup semi-finals, although Slot remains wary of the threat Spurs pose in attack.
“Before we go into the game, we expect two teams to have such a clear identity and playing style. Both teams try to impose that identity on the other,” Slot said.
“We were able to show our identity for large parts of the away match two weeks ago. But they showed how good they are in large parts. Scoring three goals against us is a big compliment.”
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