Virgil van Dijk will maintain his status as the world's best centre-back over the duration of his Liverpool contract, Reds expert David Lynch has argued.
The Merseysiders emerged as 1-0 winners against Leicester City on Sunday, and boss Arne Slot only needs to help his side collect one more point in order to claim the Premier League title.
Liverpool's win was the club's first match since both Van Dijk and Salah had signed two-year contract extensions, keeping them at Anfield into their mid-thirties.
Lynch expressed his view that Van Dijk is more likely to maintain his current performance level than Salah, telling Sports Mole: "It's easier to predict that for the next two years you will still see van Dijk at the same level because with defending it's a little easier to do - he barely has to sprint around the pitch anyway so if he loses a yard of pace I don't think you'll notice it because his reading of the game is so good.
"I'm not seeing physical decline but with defenders it's much easier to mask because they get smarter and he's so good in every other aspect of the game. With Van Dijk you can guarantee [his level] but your concern is with attackers that it does feel like a cliff edge, they do drop off suddenly. You hope with Salah that we're not going to see that.
"His professionalism is absolutely second to none so that is a real bonus - it gives you real confidence. We'll probably not see a season like this in terms of the numbers of goals and assists because this is absolutely freakish what he's doing but [there's] a baseline for him. Going into next season he will be Liverpool's top goal scorer as a minimum. We'll see what happens in terms of decline over the the next couple of seasons."
Van Dijk will be 34 years old by the time the 2025-26 season gets under way while Salah will be 33, though both have so far shown no signs of slowing down.
A sign of FSG's ambition
Liverpool's principal owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have at times been criticised for a supposed lack of ambition, with some fans pointing to the fact that Federico Chiesa was the club's only signing in the last two transfer windows.
There had been concerns that the ownership group would not want to hand out lucrative contracts to stars in their thirties, especially as the duo would have little resale value.
However, Lynch argued that Van Dijk and Salah's extensions discredit claims that FSG are not ambitious owners when he told Sports Mole: "It smashes the myth - and it is a myth - that FSG in some way struggle to keep hold of top talents. [Salah's] up there as one of the top five attackers of his generation. These are really hard to come across.
"Virgil van Dijk is possibly the best centre-half ever and Liverpool have not only signed [him and Salah] but kept them for basically the entirety of their top-level careers. If anyone questions Liverpool's ambition or the owners, I think they are two really good examples of that. They get paid an awful lot, they're really well remunerated so that shows you that ambition is there.
"It says something about where the team's going that both players were absolutely desperate to stay and they think good things are coming in the future. It sends a sign and it's really positive, and it puts a floor on what Liverpool's next season will look like."
Liverpool are anticipated to be active in the transfer window, with players like Andrew Robertson and Darwin Nunez candidates to be replaced, so perhaps fans can expect significant change at Anfield irrespective of deals for Van Dijk and Salah.
© Imago
What can Liverpool achieve next season with Van Dijk and Salah?
Though right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold looks certain to leave Anfield for free in the summer, Van Dijk and Salah have arguably been the club's two most important players.
The centre-back has helped his side keep 14 clean sheets - the most in the division - while the winger leads the way in the top flight for goals (27) and assists (18).
When asked by Sports Mole about what the Reds' floor is with the duo, Lynch argued they guaranteed a placement in the top three, saying: "It guarantees top three as a minimum and then what happens beyond that, there are so many other factors in terms of injuries, how City respond, how Arsenal come back.
"We'll have to see. You could think that they would be in a title charge to a decent degree, but the problem is with predicting is that you can have an injury hit first half of the season and after the first 10 games you're already out of it, so it may never turn into a title charge. But I do think it gives them a minimum - outside of something crazy happening - of finishing within the top three.
"That's a really good basis to start from and with your basic level of finishing in the top three, it gives you every chance with the right signings - which is important, they're going to have to replace important members of this squad come the summer - if you get those right and you get the little bit of luck to be in a title charge then you'd say there's every chance that they will be involved in that mix."
Retaining Van Dijk and Salah has ensured that Slot can focus on strengthening other areas of the team in the summer and potentially help Liverpool push for a third Premier League title.
Lewis Nolan
