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Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all out of contract this summer at Liverpool

During Jurgen Klopp's time as Liverpool manager, the March international break was usually a period that would be used to plan for the following season at Anfield.

We are busy, as you can imagine."

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It's unclear if Arne Slot follows the same sort of idea as his predecessor but should Liverpool's head coach decide that the next week or so is the right time to expand the parameters of his planning, he will find that three major issues will hold up any advancement he'd like to make.

To many on the outside looking in, it beggar's belief that the Reds find themselves heading towards the back end of March without a resolution to any of the three contract impasses Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Those who are more privy to the specifics - like Slot, sporting director Richard Hughes and Fenway Sports Group's CEO of football Michael Edwards - might be able to offer a more relaxed outlook on the situation, but the recent admission from captain Van Dijk has set alarm bells ringing.

“I have no idea," Van Dijk said last week of his next move.

With 32 goals this term, the 32-year-old, like his 33-year-old colleague Van Dijk, has shown little evidence that a stark decline is around the corner.

Salah has also previously made public his ambitions to stay at the club when revealing his frustrations at the lack of progress over renewal talks in late November.

"There is no club like this," Salah said after the 3-2 win at Southampton.

As I said before, it is December and I haven't received anything yet about my future."

Alexander-Arnold, who is attracting strong interest from Real Madrid, has been less vocal in his own future but insisted back in September: "I want to be a Liverpool player this season [as a minimum] is what I will say.

For a club that announced a pre-tax loss of £57m, the wage bill accounts for around 61.5% of the overall revenue, which was confirmed as £614m earlier this month.

The return of the Champions League and the increase of earnings from a revamped and more lucrative format will help boost the sums for next year's accounts at least, while there could also be a significant windfall from winning the Premier League.

Renewing such terms are complex and sophisticated undertakings that, as Van Dijk himself said last week, "not a one, two, three discussion and there we go", and people more familiar with the talks have spoken about how resources need to be allocated responsibly and sensibly.

It is the sort of strategy one would expect of a club whose self-sustainable model has taken them this far in recent years.

But as the talks go on behind the scenes, the debate rages and all three players involved continue to be linked with free transfers away from Anfield, there comes a point when Slot needs to know either way.

The Dutchman was calm when asked about Van Dijk's specific situation last week, declaring that he can only confirm that he wants his skipper to stay.