:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46158206/GettyImages-462757240.0.jpg)
A piece of silverware may be on the line on Sunday, but the thing causing stress for many Liverpool fans is the number of player contracts coming up for renewal. Martin Skrtel is waiting until the summer, Jordan Henderson is hoping to get a pay raise befitting of a captain, and Raheem Sterling is trying his best to clarify the reason for his signing delay by causing a kerfuffle in the press.
It's becoming rarer and rarer, but every once in a while a player contract is extended with minimal fuss from the parties on either side of the negotiation table. It's not a feeling Liverpool fans are feeling at the moment, but Philippe Coutinho quietly extended his stay on Merseyside in February and had only glowing things to say about his club.
"Liverpool have always shown a great warmth to me so when they came to me with a proposal I did not need to think twice to renew the contract," said the diminutive midfielder. "I have always been looked after very well by this football club and I am very happy at this football club, so I didn’t even have to think about it.
"My mind is at Liverpool, I’m a Liverpool player and I don’t think about [big European clubs making a bid] because I am happy here and want to be here. The season has not finished yet regarding the Champions League. There are still a few games to go, many things can happen and we will try to finish the season on a high – and in the FA Cup as well - for me and the club."
Coutinho may be being a wee bit optimistic about his club's Champions League aspirations for next year, but his rosy take is part and parcel of an attitude held by a player who clearly sees a positive future at Liverpool. Whether his teammates will come around to that position won't be known until the summer, but until then the Liverpool player of the year candidate has a chance to help his club get closer to FA Cup silverware on Sunday.
