Liverpool still face major contract dilemma after Dominik Szoboszlai agreement | OneFootball

Liverpool Contract Situation: Szoboszlai Extension Buys Time, Not Certainty

Liverpool have handled one job. They have not handled the full problem.

Dominik Szoboszlai signing a new contract until 2031 matters. It removes one obvious concern and stops the clock from ticking towards an awkward 2028 situation. At a club where contract management has become a recurring issue, that is useful business. Necessary business, in fact.

But there is no point dressing this up as more than it is. One extension does not clean the slate. Liverpool still have a cluster of first-team players moving into dangerous territory, and the closer you get to the final year of a deal, the less control the club has. That is how it works. Players gain leverage, markets shift and sentiment can turn expensive very quickly.

Szoboszlai staying until 2031 fits the broader idea of a younger core being locked in for the long term. Fine. Smart. Sensible. Yet the real pressure sits elsewhere, with 2027 contracts and a handful of decisions that cannot be postponed forever.

Liverpool contracts in 2027 need sorting

This is where the issue sits. Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk are the headline names entering the final year of their contracts next summer. That guarantees noise around both players throughout the season. Two senior figures, two elite operators, two situations that demand clarity.

Photo: IMAGO

If Liverpool want either man to stay beyond 2027, there is work to do. If they do not, then planning the succession becomes urgent. There is no middle ground that lasts for long.

Curtis Jones also falls into that bracket. He is younger and homegrown, which makes his case different, but not less important. If he is part of the medium-term picture under Andoni Iraola, then Liverpool need to show it. If he is not, they need to act accordingly.

Joe Gomez feels like a separate case, mainly because the sense is that his long Liverpool chapter is nearing its end. After more than a decade at the club, 2026-27 looks likely to be the final season, if he remains that long. Kostas Tsimikas has a similar feel to his situation. Useful squad player, committed professional, but hardly central to any five-year plan.

Wataru Endo is another obvious candidate for either a sale or a natural end point when his deal expires. By then he will have given Liverpool what he was brought in for, experience, reliability and cover, but football does not wait around for sentiment.

Freddie Woodman, as third-choice goalkeeper, is not a major strategic concern. Harvey Davies and Calvin Ramsay are also due to be out of contract, though their futures sit on the edge of the senior picture rather than at its centre.

The more interesting cases are Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic. Both have talent. Both have had moments. Both now need to convince Iraola that they are worth building around, or at least worth renewing on terms that reflect genuine first-team importance. Talent alone does not secure contracts. Relevance does.

Alexis Mac Allister and Rio Ngumoha are next in line

Once a player hits the final two years of a deal, the discussion starts. That is not panic, it is procedure. It is exactly why the Szoboszlai extension was worth doing now.

Alexis Mac Allister is the obvious name here. He is the only one of Liverpool’s key 2023 midfield arrivals yet to sign fresh terms. That will attract attention. It should. He is too good, too established and too important for his contract situation to drift quietly in the background.

Much may depend on what Iraola wants from his midfield and how Mac Allister starts the season. If he remains central, then renewal talks become an issue of timing. If there is any uncertainty, others will notice. Elite clubs always do.

Rio Ngumoha is a different conversation because of age, but still an important one. Liverpool clearly view him as a serious prospect, and the expectation is that a stronger deal will be lined up once he turns 18. That is standard practice with top young players. Delay carries risk. Movement solves it.

Federico Chiesa and Vitezslav Jaros are also due to be out of contract in 2028. Chiesa’s future looks doubtful long before that date. If Liverpool can move him this summer, few would be shocked. Jaros is more complicated. Goalkeeper planning often is. If Alisson leaves in 2027, openings emerge, though Jaros is currently working back from a serious knee injury and that changes the immediate equation.

Andoni Iraola has a young core already tied down

There is some good news here, and it is real. Liverpool do have a long-term framework in place.

Conor Bradley, under contract until 2029, is already the type of player the club should be thinking about well in advance. Not because there is a crisis, but because full-backs with his upside tend to become expensive to keep once everyone agrees on their value.

Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are all tied down until 2030, which gives Iraola a stable base from the 2025 arrivals. Trey Nyoni and Cody Gakpo are also secure through to the next World Cup cycle, and that matters in squad-building terms.

Further ahead, Liverpool have started to shape the next spine of the team. Giorgi Mamardashvili is widely viewed as the eventual successor to Alisson, and his deal length reflects that expectation. Szoboszlai now joins that long-horizon group, alongside centre-backs Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet.

Up front, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike being on six-year deals gives Liverpool a strong attacking platform, while Ryan Gravenberch, signed through to 2032, currently has the longest contract at the club. That is not accidental. Clubs hand out that level of security to players they see as central.

Szoboszlai extension changes the tone, not the workload

Liverpool are in a better contract position than some supporters probably feared. That is fair. The Szoboszlai extension helps calm one area and strengthens the logic of building around a younger, high-value core.

Still, this is no time for self-congratulation. The 2027 list is long enough to create pressure, and several of those names are not squad fillers, they are serious players. Alisson, Van Dijk, Jones, Elliott, Bajcetic and Mac Allister all demand proper decisions, whether those decisions lead to renewals, sales or succession plans.

That is the reality. Contract strategy is not about celebrating one deal and hoping the rest wait politely. It is about sequencing, leverage and timing. Liverpool have made one good move with Dominik Szoboszlai. Now they need several more.