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Liverpool expert James Pearce expects Virgil van Dijk to sign a contract extension beyond the end of this season, but is less certain on the futures of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

All three players are set to become free agents on July 1 as things stand, and Alexander-Arnold has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid on a free transfer.

Van Dijk and Salah have both stated their desire to stay at Anfield, but the club is seemingly not close to agreeing terms over renewals with either player.

The Athletic's Pearce, speaking on GiveMeSport's Market Madness podcast provided some insight on all three players, saying: "I'm still confident that Van Dijk will stay put.

I think he's been by far and away the best centre-half in European football this season.

I think the fact there has been so little talk about potential options where he could potentially go, I think that points to the most likelihood of him staying put.

"With Salah we know there is strong interest from Saudi Pro League

Does he want to stay at Liverpool and keep writing the record books or does he want to go to Saudi

I don't think he's ready to walk away from top level football.

"The biggest question mark is around Alexander-Arnold

Those close to him say there hasn't been a final decision yet but if you speak to people in Spain Madrid are very confident he will end up there come the summer."

Meanwhile, Pearce also said that he expects the Reds to dip into the market for a new striker in the summer window.

The Reds splurged a huge amount of money on Darwin Nunez in 2022 but he has not lived up to expectations, and Arne Slot recently questioned the Uruguayan's work rate during the games against Wolves and Aston Villa.

Liverpool snubbed interest from Saudi Arabia in Nunez during the January window but the club expects there to be a strong market for the 25-year-old in the off-season, when a sale is more likely to be considered.