Liverpool have been warned of the ‘dangerous’ consequences of trying to keep star duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at the club long-term.

Both players are entering the final 12 months of their contracts, with Mane linked with an exit this summer and, while Salah has insisted he will stay, there are big questions over his long-term future.

Salah is yet to agree a new deal at Anfield and reports surfaced this week that the Egyptian would consider joining a Premier League rival should he leave Anfield next summer.

Senegalese forward Mane has indicated that he is open to a move this summer with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain potential suitors for the 30-year-old.

But, amid calls for the club to give the key man ‘whatever they want’ to tie them down to new and improved contracts, the Reds have been warned about the precedent that would set for the rest of the team.

talkSPORT host Jordan Jarrett-Bryan took a measured approach on the topic, and believes Liverpool should hold firm on their stance and not tinker with the club’s wage structure.

“I think the precedent it might set is dangerous,” he said.

“I don’t personally think that Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are even the two most important players at Liverpool. I think Virgil van Dijk is a more important player than both of those two.

“If I’m him [Van Dijk], I’m saying: ‘Alright boss, if they’re on £300,000/350,000-a-week, I want £350,000/400,000.”

Neither Salah or Mane were household names in world football before arriving at Liverpool and Jarrett-Bryan paid tribute to Jurgen Klopp’s development of the pair and the club’s recruitment policy – something that needs to be preserved above all else.

“Liverpool have proven that their recruitment over the last five, six, seven years has been brilliant,” he said. “I would back my recruitment team – if one of them was to go – to go out and find the next one. 

“Now, the short term hit might be costly, but I just feel like the real gem at that club is Jurgen Klopp and I would back Klopp to make Luis Diaz the next Mane, and I would back him to make Fabio Carvalho the next Salah.

“It may be extreme but I’d back him to go again and really improve those players.

I wouldn’t allow those players to hold me ransom. I would make them an offer that I think is reasonable, somewhere level in the market. 

But this idea that they should get the top figure, that they should get what they want, I don’t buy that.

“It would be sad to let one or both of them go, but the real gold at Liverpool is Jurgen Klopp.”

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders had a differing view on the situation, urging the FA Cup and Carabao Cup winners to pay up and keep their star duo.

The Welshman added on The Sports Bar: “I think you’ve got to give them what they want. You look at Man United. What’s happened to Man United can happen to Liverpool at any time.

“You can’t sell your best players, you can’t let them go. Especially, arguably two of the best players in the world.

“If you keep them at the club for the next four years, you’re more or less guaranteeing success. 

They make other players look better, so you’re putting value on the other players. Average players start looking brilliant.

If you let Mane go, you’ve got to pay £100million minimum to replace him for what he produces. For the sake of the club, I think you’ve got to give them the money.”

Despite talks currently at a standstill, Salah insists that he will not be looking for an early exit and his focus is on next season with the Reds whereas Mane’s situation appears a little more uncertain.