Lineker and Shearer agree over who to sacrifice in Liverpool contract saga

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer both agreed that if they had to let one depart of Liverpool's three superstars whose contracts are expiring, it would be Virgil van Dijk.

Arne Slot's Reds have started the season in impeccable form, with a 1-0 home loss against Nottingham Forest the only stain on their table-topping Premier League record.

Yet, in the back of most staff and fan’s minds will likely be the dwindling contracts of three of their brightest lights: Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk. As things stand, the trio will all depart in 2025 and have not yet hinted at any negotiations over a renewal taking place.

Match of the Day stars Lineker, Shearer and Micah Richards were asked which of the three they'd be happiest leaving the club, and while they stressed that any departure would be sanctioned reluctantly, it was the great Dutchman Van Dijk who both Lineker and Shearer chose to hesitantly axe.

When posed the theoretical question on their Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker began: “I would say you keep Trent., because he’s in his 20s and the other two are into their 30s.”

Shearer was quick to agree, stating: “Local boy, all of that, yeah. I agree with that. But, there's an argument for all of them, isn’t there? I'm amazed that all three of them have been allowed to get into their last year.”

Lineker carried on: “Trent’s been heavily linked with Real Madrid. It's hard to turn down Real Madrid, to be honest. But, I’d also have to side with Mo because I’m a striker. Irreplaceable. But they’re all brilliant, they’re all absolutely great players, and they’ve been superb for Liverpool for a long time."

Shearer then revealed he was in agreement, stating: “Me too, only because of that fact it’s harder to find goalscorers.”

Co-star Richards also had his say, beginning proceedings by dubbing the debated topic “an impossible question” and eventually sitting on the fence.

“Without Van Dijk, Liverpool don’t win the league,” Richards started. “But, it's an impossible question. You can’t let all them three go. They need to get them signed up as soon as possible… Trent 100% because he's the youngest, definitely.

“I wouldn’t let any of them go, but I feel as though you could still win the league without Trent. If you got a solid centre-half partnership and Salah’s scoring all the goals… I’m not answering it!”

New boss Slot has been incredibly coy when asked about the trio, consistently refusing to shed any light on potential negotiations. He previously said: “Again, I’ll give the boring answer, which you’re going to get from me as long as there’s no news about this, but we don’t talk about contract situations over here.

“Is it distracting? Is that the word you used for me? No, it isn’t because I’m fully focused on the individuals in the team, and they’re part of the team. I’m just focused on trying to work with them in the best possible way to get the best out of them.”