Ricky: Hi Phil, just curious to know your thoughts on FSG as an ownership group? I’m a Liverpool fan and I was under the impression that having not spent too much in the transfer window this summer that FSG had set those funds aside to give Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk and Mo Salah new and improved contracts but this is not proving to be the case. I appreciate the club are operating sustainably, but I feel there have been times we’ve lacked real ambition in the transfer market in previous seasons when the Premier League title could have been ours if we got the targets we could have got previously.

Hi Ricky, overall I think FSG have been good and successful owners for Liverpool, despite mis-steps like the Super League and the £77 ticket pricing, which caused such protests.

I’m not sure it was ever said that a lack of transfer activity in the summer meant that money was being set aside for contracts for Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, although they face some really big decisions there.

FSG’s policy has been to not throw big money and lengthy contracts at players aged over 30 so they face a test now with Van Dijk and Salah in that category and looking as good and as fit as ever.

My view is they need to depart from any perceived fixed strategy, although the “give them whatever they want” school of thought does not appear to deal in financial realism.

I do feel they need to find common ground and get deals done – although let’s not forget we do not know what Salah or Van Dijk are asking for in terms of finance and length of contract.

They will certainly face criticism if those deals are not done but we are dealing with businessmen and a business here as well. Again, I would not say there has been a lack of ambition as they agreed a £110m for Moises Caicedo when he was at Brighton, only for the player to decide against the move because he wanted to join Chelsea. The same goes for a £52.5m deal for Martin Zubimendi in the summer.

You cannot force players to join you, but they certainly seem to know how to select a manager if Arne Slot’s start is anything to go by.