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Richard Hughes welcomes Arne Slot to Liverpool.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Arne Slot has paid tribute to sporting director Richard Hughes for successfully securing Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah to new Liverpool contracts in the face of extreme external pressure.

Thirty-two goal Salah was confirmed last Friday as having extended his stay on Merseyside for a further two years before club captain Van Dijk also penned his own fresh terms on Thursday, and it's been a landmark few days for Hughes, who took over as sporting director at the start of June 2024.

Speculation around the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold, however, rumbles on with Real Madrid still desperate to sign the vice captain as a free agent this summer.

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Slot, though, says Hughes should take the plaudits for tying down two integral players in Van Dijk and Salah to new terms at Anfield and the head coach also praised the former Bournemouth chief for allowing him and his staff the space to work how they see fit at the AXA Training Centre.

"First, by bringing these contracts over the line, Richard deserves credit for that, and lots of credit," Slot said.

"Because people have spoken for eight or nine months that so many things were not done right by us.

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"In the end, we got what we wanted and Mo had, in most situations, when you simply look at his numbers, his best season so far in his history at Liverpool.

"And for Virgil it's difficult to judge this on numbers, but I think he's having a great, great season as well.

Apart from him extending these two contracts, what I like so much about him is that I can do my job and he always supports me in the best possible way.

"Mostly people judge the sports director on the signings he brings in, I also like to judge him on how he lets me work over here, and giving me the confidence and always being positive, and creating a way of working which is ideal for every manager.

"So I would like to give him more compliments for that, than for the extending of the contracts, which I really like as well that he did that."

Slot also believes the new deal for Van Dijk will make it easier to attract top talent this summer, now players know the captain will still be at the club for the next two years as a minimum.

The club have been linked with Bournemouth's Dean Hujisen, who has a reported release clause of £50m, and Slot admits it is beneficial to recruitment plans that transfer targets know Van Dijk is in it for the long term.

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He added: "[Virgil staying] helps, it's clear that it helps, but it's not the only thing that helps.

So even if Virgil and Mo would not have extended, I think everybody would still see Liverpool as one of the biggest clubs or the biggest club in the world.

"So I think there's a lot of attraction, for Liverpool Football Club in general, for every player that we try to bring in.

But yeah, by having Mo and Virgil helps, by leading the league table at the moment helps, money helps in general a bit as well.