Liverpool have made progress in their contract talks with key trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
All three players have been stalwarts of the team's success in recent years, establishing themselves as regulars under Jurgen Klopp and unsurprisingly maintaining that status since Arne Slot's summer arrival.
However, all three players are also now in the final year of their respective contracts at Anfield, meaning that they could leave for free next summer, and would be able to speak to foreign clubs about a move from January.
Slot has faced regular questions regarding the perilous situation at press conferences so far, and joked before the weekend win over Crystal Palace that reporters should ask him again for an update after the international break.
Liverpool expert David Lynch has now revealed that there has been a "step forward" in talks with the trio, and that "movement is happening" in the club's attempts to tie them down to new contracts.
"I'm not sure that [Slot's] 'ask me after the next international break' was a hint that he's probably going to give anything away in press conferences going forward. I'm not sure I expect anything from him," Lynch told Sports Mole.
"But I do think movement's happening now. My understanding is that the talks are ongoing there, so that is a step forward from where we were maybe even a month ago. Liverpool are pushing there."
January is a "deadline" for "tricky situation"
Liverpool have already been busy on the contract front during the international break, tying 21-year-old Jarell Quansah down to a new long-term deal, while fellow centre-back Ibrahima Konate is expected to follow suit by putting pen to paper in the coming days.
However, the futures of Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold remain up in the air, and will be considered by most supporters as the priorities to fix between now and the January transfer window.
While Liverpool are not expected to entertain monetary offers for any of the three players in January, despite it potentially being their last chance to cash in, the turn of the year will herald the final six months of their contracts, meaning that overseas clubs are free to speak to them about a summer Bosman move.
There have been long-standing reports of interest from Saudi Arabia for both Van Dijk and Salah, the latter of whom was the subject of a £150m bid which Liverpool rejected two summers ago.
Perhaps the most pressing concern will be Real Madrid's apparent growing interest in Alexander-Arnold, though, with Los Blancos reportedly placing the 26-year-old at the top of their list of long-term Dani Carvajal replacements - a succession plan which could be expedited by the Spain international suffering a serious injury earlier this month.
"It's a tricky situation they find themselves in, not entirely their own making as well," Lynch told Sports Mole.
"For example, when Jurgen's leaving and knows he's leaving, he can't promise to these players he's going to be around and therefore they should sign deals, so that throws things up in the air and makes things difficult.
"The situation is what it is - Richard Hughes knows where he's inherited. It's a tricky situation, but we are more progressed than we were a month ago, and now the clock's ticking until January comes around.
"That feels like a little bit of a deadline to get things done, particularly with Real Madrid sniffing around Trent."
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How much of a blow would it be to lose all three players?
Liverpool remain hopeful of tying at least one or two of Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Salah down to new contracts, but the prospect of losing all three in the same summer borders on catastrophic for the club.
As the old adage goes, no-one is bigger than the club, and Liverpool have lost plenty of legendary players down the years before rebuilding to maintain their place at the top of English and European football.
However, losing three such titanic figures in the club's recent history at the same time is almost unthinkable, particularly when they all appear to have more to give at the top level.
Van Dijk and Salah are both now the wrong side of 30, but are showing no signs of slowing down this season and have been tipped to play well into their late 30s due to their position and playing style in Van Dijk's case, and condition in Salah's case.
Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, has only just celebrated his 26th birthday and can lay a justifiable claim to have not even reached his peak yet. Indeed, all three are still considered among the best players in the world in their respective positions.
Between them, they have made 957 appearances for the club; Salah is the club's fifth-highest goalscorer of all time; all three were integral members of the team that were crowned English, European and world champions under Klopp.
Each of them would also be in the conversation for a place in Liverpool's greatest XI, so to adequately replace all three in a single summer would be near-impossible.
There is also growing speculation over the future of goalkeeper Alisson Becker - another contender for Liverpool's best XI of all time - given his injury record and interest from Saudi Arabia.
Barney Corkhill
