Will Mohamed Salah & Virgil van Dijk consider transfers without Champions League football at Liverpool? Robbie Fowler airs top-four failure fear

• Reds struggling for consistency
• Pushing to qualify for Europe
• Key men on long-term contracts

WHAT HAPPENED? The Reds have endured a frustrating 2022-23 campaign, with struggles for consistency set to see them finish the season without major silverware to their name. There is also a very real threat that the Merseyside giants could find themselves stuck outside of the Premier League’s top four, with Fowler conceding that experienced stars may be left with little choice but to mull over their options if elite European competition proves to be out of reach for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

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WHAT THEY SAID: Legendary former Reds striker Fowler has told The Mirror: “I don’t think I’m being dramatic if I say that should Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League next season, then it will damage the club, both in terms of finances, and in terms of the players who may leave. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the likes of Salah and van Dijk thought they need to be playing in the elite European competition at their age, and can’t waste a single season out of it. I’m not saying they’d want to go, but it will be a question they may ask themselves.

“But even more worrying, is the fact that losing out on Champions League money could seriously damage their ability to compete in the summer transfer market. Can you say hand on heart that, say, Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount would want to miss out on the Champions League. And with the likes of City and Real Madrid also in for those players, it ties Liverpool’s gloves behind their back, in what is already a pretty unfair financial fight.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Salah is tied to a contract at Anfield through to 2025, with Dutch defender Van Dijk working on terms intended to keep him in his current surroundings until the same summer as his Egyptian team-mate.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Questions have been asked of Salah’s future of late, although exit rumours have been rubbished, while Van Dijk is considered to have seen his high standards dip in what has been a testing campaign for all concerned on the red half of Merseyside.