Liverpool's decision to provide Jurgen Klopp with more power contributed to the club's failure to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold to a new deal, Reds expert David Lynch has claimed.
Though the end of the 2024-25 season will likely see the Premier League return to Anfield, the campaign has arguably been overshadowed by speculation that Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Alexander-Arnold could leave the club for free upon the expiry of their contracts in the summer.
The latter has strongly been linked with a move to Real Madrid, and reports have emerged this week that the La Liga side are close to securing his signature.
Lynch told Sports Mole that he believes a number of parties are at fault for allowing this situation to develop, including previous boss Jurgen Klopp, saying: "The blame can can be shared out between a few people. It's a tough one because hindsight is always 20-20 but at the time that FSG decided to give more power around recruitment to Jurgen Klopp, there were benefits.
"Jurgen was given that power, [coached] a couple more years where Liverpool challenged for and did win trophies, so he'd done enough to earn [power] in terms of how much he'd done at Liverpool so you can't begrudge that decision too much, but there were consequences from that, the first of those was Michael Edwards departing. Then after that Julian Ward left.
"Throw in the fact that Jurgen wasn't able to sit down with any of these players and say 'I'm going to be here in two years time, this is what it's going to look like, this is what your role is going to be' - that clouded the contract situation even further. Between FSG giving that power, Jurgen Klopp wanting it and accepting it, that has created these conditions."
Edwards returned to working for Liverpool's principal owner Fenway Sports Group after Klopp had announced his exit from Anfield and has had to deal with the turbulence that he inherited from the German.
Has Trent Alexander-Arnold planned his move to Real Madrid?
Though few could begrudge Alexander-Arnold for being tempted by a move to the Spanish capital, there have been accusations that he has deliberately manufactured a situation in which he would be able to leave Liverpool for free.
When the right-back signed a contract extension in 2021, eyebrows were raised that the then 22-year-old only agreed to a deal lasting four years, especially when goalkeeper Alisson Becker and left-back Andrew Robertson signed six and five-year deals respectively in 2021.
Lynch argued that Alexander-Arnold has played a significant role in creating the conditions for a free transfer, telling Sports Mole: "On Trent Alexander-Arnold, he did sign a four-year contract last time. It doesn't get spoken about enough - that was clearly to put himself in a situation where he had the option to do this, to go to Real Madrid.
"That is not a contract length that Liverpool would have given out easily, they would have much preferred five years. Throw all these things together and Liverpool are in this situation now, they've got a new sporting director getting his feet under the table and handed him an absolute hospital pass in terms of [contracts].
"No legwork had been done by his predecessor on it, so there's a lot of blame and different aspects thrown into that, but I do think FSG - in terms of the long-term health of the club - might look back on that decision to give Jurgen all that power and slightly regret it."
Alexander-Arnold has himself said that he would prefer to win the Ballon d'Or rather than another Premier League or Champions League, and given the historic precedence of Los Blanco players winning the award, it is not surprising that a move to Spain would be appealing.
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The start of a new era?
Current boss Arne Slot's only signing in the summer was winger Federico Chiesa, but while the Reds remained relatively relaxed about their lack of business in the last two transfer windows, they may be forced to be significantly more busy should the three stars out of contract depart.
Given Slot has used practically the same squad that he inherited from Klopp, there is an argument that the Dutchman's era at Anfield is yet to truly begin.
When asked about whether next season will usher in a new era for Liverpool, Lynch agreed when he told Sports Mole: "This summer is going to be that regardless. Even if they keep two of the three - say Trent does fancy Real Madrid - there's going to be a revolution going on this summer regardless because there's doubts over the futures of so many people.
"We're talking about Joe Gomez there, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz is another one and there's going to be changes in other areas. Wataru Endo and if Trent does go then there's a right-back issue. Left-back - [there] is going to be a new signing there so Kostas Tsimikas I expect would leave. They could get themselves in a position where there's four or five signings straight off the bat.
"We're getting towards six and seven signings. There's going to be a big change anyway and a different look to the squad when we come to the start of next season. Maybe that will be the real start of the Arne Slot era and this new era under Michael Edwards. It does feel like a new era so the real starting gun for that is going to be this summer and it's going to be a summer of change."
Reports do suggest that Liverpool are more optimistic regarding possible extensions for Van Dijk and Salah, but even if the duo stay, Reds fans could be set for a hectic summer.
Lewis Nolan
