In just 42 short days, the January transfer window will open. And while that will prompt an intense month of speculation, it also opens the door to something else.

At Liverpool, supporters will eagerly wait to see if Jurgen Klopp plans to sign a new left-sided centre-back or holding midfielder. Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah’s departure to the Africa Cup of Nations in January, amid ongoing uncertainty regarding his long-term future, will perhaps prompt fresh debate regarding a potential long-term successor.

For the record, if you are holding out hope for a new number six to walk through the doors at Anfield, you are likely to be setting yourself up for disappointment. Club sources suggest that there is at present no desire to recruit a midfielder in the New Year.

Only time will tell if such a stance remains unchanged, with it not yet known if the Reds intend to be active in the mid-season transfer window or not. They have strengthened in the last four January windows at least, signing Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Ozan Kabak, Ben Davies, and Takumi Minamino.

But regardless of potential incomings, this time of year always presents fresh scrutiny on the future of those entering the final six months of their Liverpool contracts. Come January 1, they are free to discuss pre-contract agreements with overseas clubs, and edge a step closer to the exit door.

The Reds currently have four players due to be out of contract in the summer of 2024 in Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Adrian, and Conor Bradley. At least with the latter, it is worth noting that the Athletic reported in the summer that the Northern Ireland international had agreed a new three-year contract with Liverpool, even if no official announcement has yet been made.

While we can perhaps assume that the 20-year-old’s future is seemingly decided, it is a different story for his three senior team-mates.

Thiago continues to be linked with a move away from Anfield and turned down an approach from Saudi Arabia in the summer. Since then, clubs from Spain, Turkey, and Italy have all been linked with his signature.

The Spaniard hasn’t featured for the Reds since April after undergoing hip surgery, with four substitute appearances that month his only outings since he last started a game back at the start of February. While it was hoped he would be fit for the start of the season after undergoing surgery, a couple of setbacks have left him sidelined until 2024.

Nevertheless, he remains one of the club’s highest-earners and will turn 33 before the end of the season, with his current unavailability making his place in the club’s pecking order amid an £150m summer midfield revamp unclear.

While you would hope he can return to fitness in 2024 and enjoy a strong second half of the season, it would be no surprise if he was allowed to leave the club at the end of his contract.

Given his current struggles, the club's decision has been made easy for them with an imminent exit seeming inevitable. It will be curious to see if the Reds would even consider cashing in in January should an offer present itself with it clear, no matter what Thiago could offer in the rest of the season, that Liverpool's long-term future is without him.

There had perhaps been a feeling that Matip would also see out his current deal before departing on a Bosman transfer. However, after a difficult campaign last year, the 32-year-old has returned to form this season and stayed injury-free to date.

At the very least a valued squad option for the Reds, the possibility of an extension cannot be ruled out if the player is content with his role and wishes to stay put. Yet, like Roberto Firmino and James Milner last season, it would equally not be a surprise if he instead opted to move on for pastures new.

Meanwhile, Adrian signed a one-year extension with Liverpool last summer ahead of his then current deal expiring. Set to turn 37 in January, some were surprised that the Reds had looked to keep the Spaniard as their third-choice goalkeeper.

Left out of Klopp’s Europa League squad for the first half of the season, the veteran has made four matchday squad appearances this year and hasn’t played for Liverpool since the Reds’ Community Shield win over Man City in July 2022.

To have been offered extensions in the summers of 2021 and 2023, despite dropping to third-choice being Alisson Becker and Caoimhin Kelleher, his role behind the scenes is clearly valued at Anfield. Whether that would lead to another new one-year deal next summer or a parting of ways remains to be seen.

Consequently, club bosses will feel at ease regarding the contract status of the veteran trio despite that imminent expiry date. While they will soon be free to discuss pre-contract agreements regarding potential moves overseas, Liverpool will likely take a leisurely approach to resolving their futures.

While that ultimately led to Firmino and Milner taking the decision to leave out of the club’s hands earlier this year, despite Klopp’s public admissions that he would have liked the pair to stay, it follows a pattern that has seen both their former vice-captain and Adrian sign extensions right at the end of their expiring contracts after entering their twilight years.

As a result, it is perhaps three contracts that are set to expire in 2025 which will actually be of greater concern to Liverpool bosses in the New Year, rather than current their soon-to-be free agents.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah will soon all enter the final 18 months of their respective Reds deals. Unlike the aforementioned trio whose deals expire in six months’ time, these three all remain among the very first names on Klopp’s team sheet.

Appointed Liverpool’s new vice-captain in the summer, there will be no desire for Alexander-Arnold to leave Anfield anytime soon. Having only just turned 25, his best years are still firmly ahead of him with both player and club wanting them to be spent on Merseyside.

Consequently, it would be in the Reds’ interests to agree an extension before the England international enters the final 12 months of his deal, where such a status would ramp up uncertainty and speculation. If it isn’t already, it needs to be a priority for Liverpool bosses.

And as last summer's Bosman departees and current would-be free agents have found out, once you enter the final year of your contract, there is a growing air of inevitably regarding your Anfield status and future.

The situations of Van Dijk and Salah are perhaps a little different. Aged 32 and 31 respectively, they are on the wrong side of 30 but continue to shine for Klopp’s side. Unlike previous veterans, they are still very much first-choice.

Appointed club captain in the summer, there has been no suggestion of the Dutchman looking to leave Anfield. Yet that cannot be taken for granted.

Two of the Reds’ highest earners, club bosses will be wary of keeping hold of the pair for too long on such terms. They are more than deserving of such status when performing at an elite level, as they currently are, but Liverpool will be looking out closely for the day where the pair move past their prime.

As they found out when handing former captain Jordan Henderson a new long-term deal at the age of 31, with two years left on his then contract, it makes little sense to rush negotiations in such circumstances. It then comes down to if such players are willing to accept less starting game-time on reduced terms.

Keep up his current form and Van Dijk will surely hold talks regarding a new deal in 2024, rather than the Reds risk him entering the final year of his contract. But, if in 12 months’ such a status remains unchanged, his future will inevitably be up in the air.

Salah’s own situation is complicated further courtesy of interest from Saudi Arabia, having been the subject of an £150m verbal offer from Al-Ittihad back in the summer. The Saudi Pro League is expected to come calling again for the most high-profile Muslim player in world football.

It would be understandable if a move back to the Middle East would be appealing to the forward. Yet at the same time, as he closes in on his 200th Liverpool goal, he is also presented with the prospect of continuing to compete for Premier League and Champions League titles at Anfield. Deliver on that front while continually scoring and assisting at his current rate of knots, he will maybe even re-enter the Ballon d’Or conversation.

Consequently, his future could come down to what Salah wants to do next. If he does wish to move to the Saudi Pro League, the Reds would be foolish not to consider lucrative offers next summer rather than risk losing him for nothing in 2025.

The best-paid player in Liverpool’s history, such a deal was only signed in the summer of 2022 after the most drawn-out negotiations and messy of sagas. Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, has previously disclosed in a case study at Harvard University how he feared that an agreement with the club would not be reached.

For as long as he remains Liverpool’s star player, they have plenty to weigh it up.

You would expect Salah’s future to come to a head one way or another in 2024, with it soon becoming clear just how much of a threat the Saudi Pro League actually is to any Liverpool hopes of keeping him. Should the Reds resist a sale again next summer, it then comes down to player and club to come to an agreement before Middle Eastern forces come calling again.

Having kept silent on his future in the summer despite that £150m offer, 12 goals and four assists from 17 appearances so far this season has seen the forward continue to do his talking on the pitch. Keep it up and he will put his club side in the most difficult of positions the longer his future remains unresolved.

Speculation regarding Salah's future was something of a distraction last time around. At the very least those of a Reds persuasion know what twists to expect from this imminent sequel. The only thing still to be decided is how the story ends.