Why Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold were spotted in full kit at the AXA

Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold were both spotted in full kit at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre on Thursday, sparking hopes of new contracts.

Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold are in the final year of their contracts at Liverpool along with Mohamed Salah, with their futures an ongoing concern for fans.

And when the captain and vice-captain were pictured in full kit at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday, it raised hopes the club were planning a double announcement.

Unfortunately that is not the case, with Liverpool instead holding their annual team photo at the training ground in Kirkby.

The entire squad changed into their full kit after breakfast with Arne Slot and his staff in the morning, before heading out onto the outdoor pitch.

Team photo content coming soon… ? pic.twitter.com/2GMoar34O8

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 19, 2024

Club photographers John and Andrew Powell will have conducted the team photo, which includes every first-team player along with Slot and his assistants.

It was taken a month after the new season got underway due to the late closure of the summer transfer window, with a number of changes to the squad between opening day against Ipswich and deadline day on August 30.

One of those was the signing of Federico Chiesa, who joined his new teaMMAtes on the portable bleachers in front of the main building.

As of yet there have been no concrete developments reported over new contracts for Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold or Salah.

Alexander-Arnold was again linked with Real Madrid over the weekend, though Van Dijk and Salah have publicly suggested they want to stay beyond their current deals.

Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, took to Twitter last week to deny recent reports over his client’s intentions, with the Liverpool Echo having claimed the Egyptian is “desperate” to sign a new contract.

“FYI – all those ‘journalists’ who imply having ‘inside information’ about Mohamed’s future are making claims/posts based on absolutely nothing. Just click-whoring,” Issa wrote.

“‘Sources close to Mohamed’ don’t exist. This post is really just to tell you that they don’t know.”