Key Takeaways
- Trent Alexander-Arnold has already left for Real Madrid, while Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson will depart at the season’s end.
- Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker face uncertain futures at Anfield despite their vast experience.
- New signings including Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak need time to replace the chemistry of the outgoing legends.
Liverpool are preparing for a massive transformation. Trent Alexander-Arnold has already completed his move to Real Madrid. Now, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah are preparing to follow him out of Anfield. Meanwhile, questions surround the futures of both Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker. The club is losing the core of its most successful side in decades.
The Reds have said goodbye to several stars recently. Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino have all left in previous windows. However, the club kept its most important players until now.
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Robertson and Salah would all feature in any debate about Liverpool’s greatest ever eleven. This is remarkable given the club’s long and successful history. As recently as last season, all five remained at the club as Liverpool won the Premier League title.
The right-back joined Real Madrid during the previous transfer window. The Scottish left-back and the Egyptian forward will leave this summer. Alisson has triggered a one-year extension in his contract, but rumours link him with a move to Juventus. Van Dijk will turn 35 this summer and enters the final year of his deal.
Manager Arne Slot often speaks about the value of stability. He believes settled squads produce better results. Liverpool proved this theory last season. They won the league after signing only Federico Chiesa the previous summer. They lost just two senior players in Thiago Alcântara and Joël Matip. Neither played regularly during their final months at the club. However, time moves forward for everyone. Even the best teams must eventually change.
This season has proved difficult for Liverpool. Alexander-Arnold is not the only important player they miss. The serious injury to Diogo Jota last July hurt the team badly. Several new players have started slowly. Too many squad members have suffered from poor form at the same time. These problems have stopped the team from challenging properly.
The departure of at least two more legends this summer marks the end of an era. Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Robertson and Salah all played crucial roles in last season’s title win. Their experience from winning the league five years earlier certainly helped that success.
These players feature in the top twelve for Premier League appearances for the club. They also rank in the top eight for Champions League games. Salah has made 313 league appearances (fifth highest), while Robertson has 273 (seventh). Alexander-Arnold reached 259 before moving to Spain (tenth).
The loss goes beyond individual records. These players understood each other perfectly. Robertson and Salah played 257 Premier League games together. Only fifteen partnerships in Premier League history have played more matches as teammates. This exceeds famous pairs like Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka at Everton (252), Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United (247), and David Seaman and Lee Dixon at Arsenal (243).
Van Dijk will certainly miss his departing colleagues. The Dutch defender has played 246 league matches alongside Salah. He has sent countless long passes from left to right to find the winger. He has also stood next to Robertson in defence for 219 games. Alisson has shared the pitch with Salah 236 times, Robertson 213 times, and Van Dijk 212 times. He has already lost Alexander-Arnold, his teammate for 206 league matches. Building this understanding takes years. Learning your teammates’ movements matters as much as learning the league itself.
Florian Wirtz arrived with high expectations last summer. He has shown quality moments, but he is still adapting to a new system and new colleagues. Alexander Isak faces the same challenge. The Swedish striker had already scored many Premier League goals before joining Anfield. Fitness issues have not helped him, but he also looks disconnected from his teammates’ patterns of play. Both Wirtz and Isak scored in the recent 3-1 victory against Crystal Palace. This suggests progress is happening, but true understanding only develops with more matches.
Milos Kerkez joined from Bournemouth last summer to replace Robertson at left-back. After a difficult beginning, the Hungarian has improved in recent months. Robertson has demonstrated recently that he can still contribute when selected. Having him available to support Kerkez has proved vital as Liverpool secured a top-five position.
This does not mean Liverpool have made mistakes. Wirtz, Isak and Kerkez arrived last summer alongside Jeremie Frimpong, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Hugo Ekitiké. All have shown their potential at times. Sadly, Ekitiké will miss several months with a ruptured Achilles.
Every squad needs renewal. There are good arguments that Salah and Robertson should leave now. However, Liverpool still depend heavily on experience. Van Dijk has played more league matches than any teammate this season (34). He has also made the joint-most appearances in all competitions alongside Alexis Mac Allister (51).
Excluding injury time, the captain has played 4,581 minutes across all competitions. This is the highest total for any player in Europe’s top five leagues. He has already played more minutes than any Liverpool player managed during the entire 2024-25 campaign, when Salah topped the list with 4,497.
Salah left the pitch with a hamstring problem during the Palace victory. He should recover to play again before the season finishes. He could add to his impressive record of 257 goals in 440 appearances. He has scored 46 of Liverpool’s 214 goals under Slot. This equals 21.5% of the team’s total. Losing this scoring contribution is significant. This season has demonstrated how hard life becomes when he does not score.
Liverpool have lost experienced players previously. Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard hold the record for most Premier League games played together (383). Carragher retired in 2013, and Gerrard left two years later. The season after Carragher quit, Liverpool nearly won the title. Gerrard departed just before Jürgen Klopp arrived and brought huge success.
Obviously, the departures did not cause these results. The main reason Liverpool missed the title in 2013-14 was conceding 50 goals. Klopp has often said he wished he could have coached Gerrard.
Curtis Jones holds the next highest appearance count among current players after the four veterans (224 games). Interestingly, he is also rumoured to be leaving this summer because he does not play enough. Between them, Salah, Robertson, Van Dijk and Alisson have made 1,518 appearances for the club. The rest of the current squad combined have made 1,494.
The squad contains some experience. Kerkez, Mac Allister and Isak all knew the Premier League before arriving. Yet players require time to learn their responsibilities and understand what representing Liverpool means. They must carry the expectations and perform for passionate supporters.