Liverpool hurtle towards Curtis Jones and Conor Bradley DISASTER | OneFootball

In life, you are told that if you work hard, you are rewarded for it.

We know that isn’t always the case though and it hasn’t been at Anfield for a couple of years now.

Liverpool have let things slip with contracts over recent seasons.

Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are free to open talks with clubs in a little over five weeks. Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate are out of contract in 18 months while there could be a mass exodus in the summer of 2027 with the likes of Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker, Luis Diaz, Harvey Elliott, Conor Bradley, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas all out of contract.

Now, not all of these players will depart. As soon as the Reds know what is going on with Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, we’ll see movement on the contract situation. Still, it is an unenviable position to be in for the club.

While contract renewals have been neglected during this period, the club have also failed to reward fine form. It is understandable as to why.

© IMAGO

Liverpool's revolving Sporting Director door

Julian Ward replaced Michael Edwards as the Sporting Director but only lasted a few months. Jorg Schmadtke was then hired in the interim while a long-term successor was identified and he openly admitted to being nothing more than an assistant to Klopp.

Before the arrival of Richard Hughes, it was a case of Schmadtke and Klopp running the business side of things. And they focused on transfers rather than renewals.

This is why Liverpool now find themselves in the predicament they are in.

Last season would’ve been the perfect time to tie Bradley down to a long-term deal. The right-back impressed while filling in for the injured Alexander-Arnold and a new contract would’ve been justified. It would’ve tied him down to the club until 2029 while giving him a deserved pay rise.

It also would’ve protected Liverpool in the short-term, safe in the knowledge that they had Alexander-Arnold’s potential successor on their books. It still would’ve been a stressful situation with the No66, but now the Reds potentially have a stressful situation on the horizon with Bradley too.

If Real Madrid get their wish and the 26-year-old leaves Anfield this summer, Liverpool might have to delve into the market to sign a right-back. If Bradley isn’t promoted to starter, or at least given an opportunity to become a starter, getting him to sign a new deal could prove problematic. You wouldn’t blame him either, would you? He’s always done well when filling in for Alexander-Arnold yet the club didn’t give him the opportunity to succeed the England international.

© IMAGO - Conor Bradley

Why would he pen a new deal when he’s good enough to be a starter for a Premier League club? It is a situation Liverpool didn’t have to find themselves in. It is a situation they wouldn’t have found themselves in had they rewarded Bradley for his fine form last season.

© IMAGO - Curtis Jones celebrates scoring for Liverpool against Chelsea.

Jones finds himself in a similar situation.

A boyhood red, he’s not going to want to leave Anfield but if he’s forever being tasked with proving himself for a place in the starting XI, it’ll become a little tiresome for him, won’t it? There have been ample opportunities over the past two years for Liverpool to have extended his deal and bumped his pay. He was a key player for Klopp whenever he was fit. Now, though, you have an England international into the final two-and-a-half-years of his deal. If the Reds bring in another midfielder, he might not be as eager to extend his stay and you couldn’t blame him.

Good form has been overlooked and ignored. At this current time, Liverpool are reacting to contract length and that must be disheartening for players. It is also poor from a management point of view as it weakens their hand completely and allows players to leverage the situation in their favour.

The Reds haven't just handled contracts poorly over the past few seasons, they've also let good form go unrewarded. And it is going to cost them.