Le Journal

Liverpool prepare to resume their Champions League campaign on Wednesday with a trip to Marseille in what will be their penultimate league phase game of their 2025-26 European campaign, and a single point will be enough to ensure the Reds progress to the knockout rounds. Their hopes were given a boost with the return of Mohamed Salah to training after a disappointing end to the Africa Cup of Nations for the superstar forward, with Egypt making it to the semi-final stage only to lose to final winners Senegal and then to Nigeria in the third-place playoff. What Salah’s role for Liverpool will be, though, is a fair question given his falling out with manager Arne Slot before his international duty departure over the holiday period, but with Liverpool currently looking very thin in attack there’s plenty of reason to think Salah will be needed. In Salah’s absence, Liverpool have managed to tally up to 12 games in their current unbeaten streak—no small accomplishment given the team’s struggles in the autumn—but there remain questions around performances and this remains a side that seems rather to lack a tactical identity. If this title-defending Liverpool side are to manage more than treading water following last summer’s £450M transfer splurge, it’s hard to imagine it happening without Salah playing a key role. However, Salah’s involvement on Wednesday won’t be the only question Slot has to answer. That’s because while Salah has returned to training, centre half Ibrahima Konaté has left the club due to family reasons and widespread reports today suggest it is not yet known if he will join his teammates for Wednesday and take part in the match against Ligue 1’s third-place side. If Konaté isn’t available, that will leave Slot with just two fit senior centre halves to choose from in captain Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, and Gomez’ struggles with injuries this season will likely have everyone feeling a little bit nervous on the defensive depth front in the coming weeks.

In the midst of a Liverpool season that hasn’t gone to plan, with long stretches of both underwhelming results and disappointing performances, one of the most consistent positive standouts has been that of star midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. The 25-year-old Hungarian has shone in his third season on Merseyside, having arrived at the club in summer 2023 from RB Leipzig after Liverpool triggered his £60M release clause. That he’s into his third season, though, means it’s time to start worrying about contract. The deal Szoboszlai signed when he joined the club was for five years, meaning at the end of the season he will have just two years left to run—and that means now is when all parties would typically seek to extend his stay or start thinking about a sale. “There are always talks,” Szoboszlai acknowledged this week when asked about his contract situation. “The media talk a lot because that’s your job and there have been talks but for sure not any decision has been made. There is always progress but no decision has been made. “I’ll just keep on going every week, every training, giving my best for the team, for the fans, so let’s see what is going to happen in the future. I am happy here but you know how football works and that is something everybody has to take into account.” While Liverpool might prefer a do-over for the current disappointment of a season, the unfortunate reality is of course that while the Reds tread water their key players are all getting a year older and seeing a year tick off their contracts, a situation going well beyond Szoboszlai. Along with Szoboszlai, Liverpool rebuilt their midfield with Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch in 2023. All are in the same contract situation. Typically, as value drops in the final year, two years out is the best time to sell a player if they will not extend.