Liverpool news: Neil Mellor wants Jon Flanagan's contract situation sorted quickly

Former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor has questioned Jurgen Klopp on why Jon Flanagan's contract situation at Anfield is still not resolved. The defender has less than six months left on his contract and has not been handed a new deal.

The 23-year-old came up through the ranks of the Merseyside club's youth setup, before Kenny Dalglish handed him his first team debut in May 2011. He has been a regular inclusion in former manager Brendan Rodgers' starting lineup, only before a knee injury hampered his progress at the club.

Flanagan made his first start after 22 months in Liverpool's 3-0 victory over Manchester City. He has already expressed his desire to pledge his long-term future to his current employers and follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in having a prolonged Liverpool career.

Klopp had earlier admitted that he was hopeful that the talks regarding Flanagan's contract would reach a positive solution for all parties. Mellor has echoed the former Borussia Dortmund coach's comments and admitted the full-back's future will be sorted out soon.

"If it was great to see Adam Lallana back playing well the same must be said for Jon Flanagan. He set the tone early on with that crunching challenge on Raheem Sterling and before half time did brilliantly to stop a certain goal, again denying Sterling after Aguero's lay-off," Mellor told the Liverpool Echo.

"How this lad hasn't had a new deal sorted out yet I don't know. We always seem to admire the continental players and get them signed up swiftly but here we have a lad who is full of passion and desperate for a long term future at the club he has supported all his life."

"Jon's showed he has quality in a specialist position. He might not be the quickest or most creative but you need defenders to defend and he does that so well.

"We're missing that local input since Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard both departed and Flanno is the lad who can carry that torch forward I feel. I hope the Reds just get a new contract with him sorted out soon," he stressed.