Liverpool look likely to end one of the longest running contract sagas of recent memory by committing Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk to new two-year deals.
Both Salah and Van Dijk have been crucial to the Reds this season and had been due to depart for nothing in mere months.
However, positive news came on Wednesday to suggest the two players are set to stay at Liverpool until 2027.
But while this is clearly a wonderful update for Reds supporters, they are also not out of the woods just yet in regards to other members of the Liverpool squad.
Talks are reportedly ongoing with Ibrahima Konate over a new and improved deal, but the Frenchman is seemingly not the only one actively seeking better terms at Anfield.
Judging by some comments from the agent of Ryan Gravenberch on Thursday, the Dutch midfielder is also ready to ask Liverpool for a wage hike.
Ryan Gravenberch agent starts playing games
With a celebratory mood in effect around Merseyside following the Salah and Van Dijk news, some slightly concerning comments from Gravenberch’s agent may have gone unnoticed.
“He’s good enough for Real Madrid,” Jose Fortes told Marca during an interview. “We would love for him to play for them.”
“But Liverpool would ask for a lot of money. I know they’ve [Real] had their eye on him, but now it’s impossible.”
The natural response to such comments is to decry the possibility of another Liverpool player jumping ship to join Real Madrid.
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However, with Fortes even acknowledging that any move would be ‘impossible,’ we’d see it a different way, at least for the time being.
Instead, after such a stellar season from his client, we’d suggest Gravenberch’s agent is actually putting pressure on Liverpool to reward the 22-year-old with a better contract.
Liverpool should address Gravenberch contract
In some ways it feels as though Gravenberch has only just arrived at Liverpool. However, that is not really the case. The Netherlands international is now two years through a five-year contract.
Like with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, there should be no rush in awarding fresh terms to Gravenberch with three years left. However, if Liverpool want to avoid any more of this kind of transfer talk, then tying the former Ajax man down might be an idea.
Should Gravenberch – or any of the other two – get down to two years remaining, the prospect of a move away starts to become more of a reality. Liverpool can head that off early. Gravenberch has been ‘crucial’ this season and a new deal would be no bad thing.
Having said that, according to Capology, Gravenberch is taking home a whopping £150k-per-week at Anfield. It may be a little tricky for them to commit to bettering that at this stage.
With talk of Real Madrid already on the agenda, you can be sure that Fortes and Gravenberch’s other representatives will be keen to push the idea of a hefty wage bump. The Reds should be receptive to that, but as seen with Salah and Van Dijk, it will only happen on their terms. It’s still early days here, but it’s already clear that a battle may lie ahead.
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