With Virgil van Dijk yet to sign a new deal at the club, Liverpool are now reportedly closely monitoring a summer replacement who Arne Slot has already spoken to in the last 12 months.
Liverpool transfer news
On the pitch, Liverpool are in dreamland. Six months ago, there would have been growing anxiety that they would simply fall away without Jurgen Klopp and that Slot would not be the replacement Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes believed they’d hired.
Six months, a place at the top of the Premier League, Champions League and in the Carabao Cup final later, however, it’s fair to say that the Dutchman was the man for the job.
Off the pitch, meanwhile, reality is threatening to bring that dream crashing back down to earth with Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold all yet to sign new deals.
As things stand, the Reds will lose all three players for free when the summer arrives in what would represent the ultimate failure for both Edwards and Hughes in the first season of their off-pitch partnership. With a matter of months standing between now and those exits, it’s no shock to see those at Anfield already planning for the worst.
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This former Liverpool star has been in great form this season.
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are now closely monitoring David Hancko, who could yet arrive in place of Van Dijk from Slot’s former club Feyenoord. A player the Reds boss knows well, Hancko revealed last summer that he’s already spoken with his former manager.
He told reporters as relayed by The Standard when asked about Slot’s move to Liverpool: “I have a lot of confidence in him and his staff, and I don’t say that because I hope to go with him to Liverpool, because that is unlikely.
“I have spoken to him a few times since the end of the season, but I don’t think they are looking for a player in my position, so I don’t think a transfer to Liverpool will happen. But I wish him the best of luck, he really is a fantastic coach.”
Hancko could take Liverpool chance
In Liverpool’s ideal world, they keep hold of Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk this season and pick up a fair few trophies along the way. That world, at this stage, is more of an alternative reality though. As the months pass by, it looks increasingly likely that the Reds will be forced to suffer heartbreak in some form – whether that sees them lose all three players or just one.
If Van Dijk is one of those at fault for such heartbreak, then his departure could present Hancko with the ultimate opportunity and one that he didn’t see likely not so long ago.
Dubbed a “freak technician” by analyst Ben Mattinson last summer, the Feyenoord man could reunite with Slot to instantly help solve Liverpool’s potential Van Dijk problem ahead of next season.
