Liverpool urged to be 'proactive' to avoid Mohamed Salah contract repeat with in-form star

Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has urged the Reds to ensure they do not make the same mistake with Ibrahima Konate as they have done with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk are all into the final eight months of their deals at Anfield, and in just over a month's time they will be able to enter negotiations with foreign clubs over a possible free transfer next summer.

Liverpool has been widely criticized for allowing three of its key players' contracts to run down, and there is a strong possibility that at least one of the players will depart for nothing at the end of the season.

• Liverpool should beat Bayern Munich to 134-goal free transfer

• Mohamed Salah's Liverpool contract situation laid bare by lawyer

Alexander-Arnold has the highest market value of any right-back on the planet, while Salah and Van Dijk remain among the very best players in the world in their positions, so all three of them would command significant transfer fees if Liverpool wanted to and were in a position to be able to sell them.

Those three players have been crucial to Liverpool's most successful period in decades and have started this season in fine form; another player who has started this season in fine form is Ibrahima Konate, and he also finds himself in an interesting position with his Liverpool contract.

Konate's current deal is due to expire at the end of next season, and Aldridge has urged Liverpool to ensure it does not find itself in a difficult position with Konate in 12 months' time.

"I think Liverpool really have to be proactive in the case of Ibrahima Konate," Aldridge wrote in the Liverpool Echo. "If you look at the position the club have got themselves into with Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, it's one they won't want to be in with too many more of their key men.

"That's why I think the club have got to get their house in order early with the Frenchman to provide themselves with an insurance policy and tie him down for what should be the years of his career as a centre-back.

"The issue is when a player's contract becomes a talking point, the agents can sometimes get in their ear and convince them about the grass being greener elsewhere because the representatives know the fees they can earn are a lot higher for transfers than contract renewals. That is why Liverpool have to act with Konate while he is settled, in-form and playing every week.

"He is enjoying his football right now, and looking at the rest of the centre-back department, with Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah acting as back up to Van Dijk and Konate, Liverpool are really well endowed in that area.

"Konate is starting to mature and he is maintaining the sort of consistency that has seen him earn the France captaincy at times during the last couple of international breaks. He is still young and is going to be quite the centre-half, so a new deal seems like the next logical step."