It’s fair to say that as far as weekend’s go, Liverpool have had a pretty good one.
After beating West Ham on Sunday, the Reds now stand on the verge of securing the Premier League title.
But the weekend’s result was not actually the biggest news to come out of Liverpool over the past few days.
On Friday, Mohamed Salah finally ended speculation over his future by penning a new two-year contract at Anfield. Salah’s signing ended a months-long saga which at times threatened to derail Liverpool’s season.
After grabbing a dramatic winner against West Ham, Virgil van Dijk looks set to sign his own extension over the coming days.
And as the Liverpool fanbase celebrate two of their best ever players staying at the club, Gary Lineker has come out to defend the Reds against some criticism coming their way.
Gary Lineker hits back at Liverpool critics
Throughout the season, there have been worries and at times rage from Liverpool fans as they waited to find out the futures of Salah and Van Dijk.
Sporting director Richard Hughes took plenty of criticism, as did the Liverpool owners and anyone else perceived to be responsible for the delay.
But according to Lineker, anyone criticising Liverpool’s handling of the situation is barking up the wrong tree.
“I’ve heard a lot of pundits be really critical of Liverpool saying ‘why did they leave it so long before they renewed their contracts?’ And I’m thinking ‘hang on a minute, it’s not just about the football club, it comes from the players,'” the pundit told The Rest Is Football.
“If I was an agent of a player now I would say ‘see right near the end and then it gives you a much better negotiating position’.
“It’s actually not just Liverpool, if the player’s going ‘well, no, I’m not going to sign, I might want to leave at the end of the season,’ it’s a two-way thing.”
All’s well that end’s well for Liverpool
This is probably right from Lineker. Given how long they’d allowed this situation to drag on, Liverpool did not hold all the cards in these two renewals. Far from it.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 32 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 74 | 31 | 43 | 76 |
| 2 |  ArsenalArsenal | 32 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 57 | 27 | 30 | 63 |
The player’s wants have to be taken into account and if they are delaying matters, then there’s not a whole lot the club can do.
It’s also worth saying that Liverpool were probably right to wait until the final year of both Salah and Van Dijk’s contracts to hand them new ones. What would have happened if they’d signed in 2024 only to drop off this season, for example.
Essentially, Liverpool come out of this looking like they’ve played it well because both players are in top form and are now both going to stay.
Had either Van Dijk or Salah – or both – decided to go, the criticism Lineker is talking about would probably have been justified. It is a results based business after all, both on and off the pitch. This one went Liverpool’s way.
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