Liverpool delay contract negotiations with Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum

According to Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O’Connor (h/t Daily Star), Liverpool have put contract negotiations with Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum on hold amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Both the players made the move to Anfield in Klopp’s first summer at the club in 2016. They have since gone on to establish themselves key cogs in the German’s Red machine.

Liverpool have, over the last year, focused as much on retaining our best players as signing new ones. Both Mane and Wijnaldum are in line for extensions but will have to wait a little longer to put pen to paper (h/t Daily Star).

The Senegalese winger’s contract runs till 2023 giving the Reds enough leeway in negotiating an extension. Wijnaldum, however, will soon enter the final year of his contract, making his situation the priority to address.

Sadio Mane is one of Liverpool's best players — Sadio Mane is one of Liverpool’s top talents

Mane has in recent weeks been linked with a move to Real Madrid. The Spaniards are not the overwhelming force they once were with Liverpool currently above them in the pecking order.

The Reds are a well-established unit with the potential to get much better. Real, however, are in the midst of a rebuild having sold Ronaldo in 2018. It makes no sense for Mane to move to the Bernabeu, especially considering the position we are in.

Wijnaldum will turn 30 this year, calling his long term future at the club in question.

Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum were among Klopp's earliest signings — Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum were among Klopp’s earliest signings

He still remains a key player and has a number of years left in him. A key system player who keeps the Reds midfield ticking, Wijnaldum is a man for the big games.

He scored crucial goals against Roma, Middlesborough, and Barcelona and has stepped up when the team needed him to.