Liverpool chairman Tom Werner acknowledged that the club were willing to let Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah depart for free during last summer’s contract discussions.
After months of long discussions, both players signed extensions towards the end of last season while they were in the final year of their contracts.
The negotiations took place concurrently with Liverpool’s title winning campaign, and it was unclear whether new agreements would be reached far into the spring.
While praising sporting director Richard Hughes, Werner has now disclosed how close Fenway Sports Group (FSG) was to ending talks, emphasizing that the club’s finances have to be in order.
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“My impatience is balanced by his patience,’ the American told The Athletic in an extract from Walk On: Inside Arne Slot‘s Liverpool by James Pearce.
“I’d call him frequently and say, ‘Richard, how are things going with Mo Salah and his contract?’, and he would say, ‘Tom, it will all be good in the end’.
“I think all the agents who deal with him would say that he conducts business in a very respectful way. He has a plan and he executes it.
“We were delighted that the new contracts for Mo and Virgil were sorted.
“But you know what? If Richard had called and said, ‘The chasm is too big’, I would have respected that too. John, Mike and I try to find people who are excellent at their jobs and let them do their jobs.
“We don’t meddle, we just provide support and advice from our point of view. There’s a lot of trust. I can’t say enough wonderful things about Richard.”
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