Liverpool could sacrifice £74m this summer as familiar issue immediately faces Andoni Iraola
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SportFootballLiverpool FCAndoni Iraola is facing a pressing issue immediately after taking the Liverpool jobAndoni Iraola faces the prospect of a potential mass exodus at Liverpool, with six first-team players worth a combined £74million currently set to leave for free next summer. Iraola was confirmed as Liverpool's new head coach on Thursday, penning a two-year agreement with the Reds following an impressive three-year spell at Bournemouth.It came after Arne Slot's sacking off the back of a disappointing second season at the helm — 12 months on from his Premier League title triumph.
However, Iraola will already have to manage without one of Slot's starting defenders, Ibrahima Konate, given the Frenchman's exit as a free agent.The club announced last week that Konate would leave at the end of his contract this summer after talks over a new deal failed to reach an agreement. All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pageYet, Iraola may have to brace himself for multiple similar departures over the coming 12 months, as six additional players' contracts expire this time next year.
Captain Virgil van Dijk, Curtis Jones, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo and Stefan Bajcetic — should they not sign fresh terms before then - will all leave for free in a year's time.The situation puts Iraola in a tricky spot, given that he will not know which of the aforementioned stars he can rely on in the long-term. By failing to cash in on them early enough, their market valuations nosedive as they near the end of their deals, meaning their worth cannot be recovered — or they simply walk away for nothing.Those in charge at Anfield appear not to have taken heed of last year's mistake, when the futures of star trio Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold hung in the balance for much of the campaign and proved an unwelcome distraction.Ultimately, Alexander-Arnold was the only one to leave in the summer of 2025, much to the fury of the Anfield faithful, though the club recouped a small sum due to him joining Real Madrid earlier than the free agency deadline.Salah and Van Dijk both signed short-term extensions, but the pair held all the power during negotiations, just as the aforementioned players do now.