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Jamie Carragher is worrying about the futures of Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk(Image: YouTube/The Overlap US)

Jamie Carragher believes that the Carabao Cup final loss and Champions League exit have impacted Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk in more ways than one.

Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at Wembley came just days after they exited the Champions League at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in a 4-1 loss on penalties after a 1-0 defeat on the night.

These two losses were huge in terms of the Reds' potential silverware this season, as they'd already exited the FA Cup in the fourth round with a 1-0 loss to Plymouth Argyle - leaving the Premier League as the only, albeit still mightily impressive, option of a trophy to bring to Anfield in Arne Slot's maiden campaign.



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While Slot's side are sitting quite comfortably at the top of the table - 12 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with nine games to go - club legend Carragher believes these cup competition losses could have a serious impact on Salah and Van Dijk's contract situation.

Both of the key players' contracts run out with Liverpool this summer, leaving them free to negotiate with clubs abroad up until the end of the season - when they will become free agents and can walk away to any club of their choosing without a penny in return.

Alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is also free to leave in the summer transfer window for no fee, they've been a heavily discussed topic in the background of the Reds' title push.

During an episode of It's Called Soccer!, Carragher shared his worries for the stalwart duo, as he believes the "PR battle" of having multiple trophies to fight for was on their side for a while - but the ball is now in the club's court when it comes to fighting out new contract terms.

The 47-year-old said: "You know what worries me, not from their point of view, more from a club's point of view - I mean Van Dijk and Salah have almost come out and said they want to stay now, of course they do."

Van Dijk and Salah could be in an awkward position following the Carabao Cup loss(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)

When queried by co-host Gary Neville on the validity of that statement, Carragher explained: "I mean listen - Mo Salah's been saying he hasn't been offered contracts hasn't he?

But what those terms are we don't know.

"My feeling and my worry is it kept feeling like Mo Salah and Van Dijk were winning the PR battle because Liverpool are top of the league, they had won every every game in the Champions League, there was talk about trebles, they're going to do this they're going to do that and in the last week you know [this hasn't happened].

"I hope this isn't the case, but maybe the people of the club are going, 'Is this a little sign of things to come in the future?

Is this Salah being off form or is this the is this the future of Salah' - and if they don't win as much are they in a stronger bargaining position to say 'We want more'?

Salah and Van Dijk would each leave huge shoes to fill(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"I don't know what they're asking for, but are the club now right to say, 'Hang on, we think you are only worth this [amount].

I mean you've [almost] won the league, we haven't won the Champions League, we haven't done that, you haven't won the Ballon d'Or'.

"I was actually thinking, I think this means the club are maybe not going to shift the goal posts at all, maybe only slightly, if you end up winning the league."

While the disappointment of the Carabao Cup loss and the Champions League exit will still be ringing painfully in the ears of both the players and fans for some time, Salah and Van Dijk have both still kept quiet on the contract front as of now - which could be a good sign.

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Most recently, manager Slot admitted that there had been no progress on the contract extension front - but did say that the club are "prepared" for every situation.
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