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With seven minutes to go at a stormy Saint Mary’s on Sunday afternoon, Liverpool won a penalty. So, Mohamed Salah stepped up. As he always does. In every sense. Salah struck his spot-kick sweetly to seal a 3-2 win over Southampton that sent his side eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, and as he raced away to celebrate, off came the shirt.
The weather was atrocious, but Salah didn’t care. He had a point to make. The Egyptian may be a humble and quiet character off the field but, as he stood bare-chested in front of the adoring away fans with his arms spread out wide, this felt like an open invitation for all and sundry to marvel at his magnificence, a very deliberate reminder that, at 32 years of age, he remains at the absolute peak of his powers, physically and mentally.
Just a couple of hours later, he sent another one – and it was far more pointed. Indeed, after rescuing the Reds from what would have been an embarrassing defeat, Salah utterly humiliated the club’s owners and directors by publicly revealing that he’s yet to be offered a new contract, meaning Liverpool’s most reliable match-winner, their most valuable player by some distance, really could leave for nothing at the end of the season…
‘More out than in’
Salah doesn’t do many interviews, so the mere fact that he stopped to talk to the press assembled at the players’ exit at St. Mary’s was significant. It was obvious that he had something to say, and when he was asked for an update on his future, Salah dropped his bombshell.
“We are almost in December and I haven’t received an offer to stay at the club yet,” he said, “so I am probably more out than in.”
Even just that revelation would have been enough to send Liverpool fans into a frenzy, but Salah piled even more pressure on his employers by revealing that he wants to stay.
“I have been at the club for many years,” he said. “There is no club like this. But, in the end, it is not in my hands. As I said before, it is December and I haven’t received anything yet about my future.”
Salah also admitted that he had no idea why he is still waiting on an offer. “I’m not going to retire soon,” he said, clearly suggesting that he feels, quite understandably, that he can continue performing at the highest level for some time to come.
“I’m focusing on the season and I’m trying to win the Premier League and hopefully the Champions League as well. I’m disappointed but we will see.”
FSG facing fan fury
The current situation is utterly unacceptable for Liverpool fans, though. They’ve long since grown tired of waiting to see what’s going to happen.
On a day on which they should be looking forward to two mouth-watering matches, against Real Madrid and Manchester City, they’re instead focused on the future of not just one club legend, but three, as Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold will, as it stands, also be free agents next summer. It’s genuinely astounding that all three were allowed to enter the final years of their respective contracts as it was inevitable that the incessant speculation and uncertainty would eventually become a distraction.
It was also only a matter of time before one of them eventually spoke out, and Salah was certainly within his rights to do so. He is the main reason why Liverpool lead both the Premier League and the Champions League.
An argument could be made that Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes were entitled to hold off on offering Salah, the highest-paid player in the club’s history, a renewal before seeing if he had fully recovered from the injury that unquestionably hindered the winger during the tail end of the 2023-24 campaign.
However, it was obvious even during pre-season that Salah was in excellent shape again, having clearly benefited from a proper break, and FSG’s problem is now that their bargaining position has been considerably weakened – arguably to such a point, in fact, that if they do not re-sign their star player, they will face a bitter backlash from a group of fans that have longstanding issues with the owners’ perceived parsimony.
‘Best player in the world’
The supporters are not stupid. They are acutely aware of the potential pitfalls of giving a thirty-something a lucrative, long-term contract, but Salah has the form and physique to justify a new deal.
Ramy Abbas Issa claimed earlier this month that Salah was “the best player in the world” right now, and while such a statement is to be expected from an agent looking to secure his client a new contract, it’s difficult to dispute that claim. Liverpool are top of both the Premier League and the Champions League – and Salah is the main reason why.
Arne Slot has masterfully managed the transition from Jurgen Klopp’s ‘heavy metal’ football to a more measured approach, with Ryan Gravenberch proving a revelation at No.6, and Curtis Jones and Ibrahima Konate having both improved significantly on the Dutchman’s watch. Luis Diaz has also added goals to his game, while Van Dijk is back to his best and once again leading by example at the back despite the current impasse over his own renewal.
It is Salah, though, who is once again propelling a Premier League title tilt.
Lost without him
Salah’s importance to Liverpool simply cannot be overstated. He has achieved an almost unprecedented level of productivity at Anfield. He’s been at the club since 2017 and has never scored fewer than 23 goals across a single season.
On Sunday, he scored in a fifth consecutive Premier League game. The last player to do that for Liverpool? Salah himself, in October 2021, when he went on to net in seven successive matches.
There’s also ample evidence to suggest that his importance to his team is only increasing. According to Opta, Salah’s 10 goals and six assists have earned Liverpool 17 points so far this season. If it weren’t his input, Slot’s side would be 13th in the table – 11 points behind Chelsea.
Put quite simply, Liverpool would be lost without him.
Talks ‘ongoing’
It’s hardly surprising, then, that the mere prospect of Salah being free to negotiate with other clubs from January 1 provokes a mix of frustration, fear and fury among the fans.
According to former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore, the club is talking with not only Salah’s representative, but also those of Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, and “feverishly” trying to tie all three down to new deals.
It’s also been reported that, in Salah’s specific case, the initial talks over a renewal have been “positive”, and remain “ongoing”. There is simply no changing the fact that it is farcical that we have even got to this stage.
Will Salah stay or will he go?
Salah’s future should have been sorted, one way or another, during the summer. If Edwards and Hughes didn’t deem him worthy of another costly contract, they should have cashed in the Saudi Pro League’s dream signing there and then.
However, if they felt time and patience would be required to agree teams on a renewal, they should have said so. At least then supporters would have known what was going on. Instead, it’s being left to a clearly unhappy Salah to provide updates.
Liverpool, of course, are renowned for getting deals done behind the scenes and that’s an excellent approach to transfers, but the deafening silence over extensions has only heightened the tension at Anfield. In Italy and Spain, sporting directors and CEOs speak to the press on an almost weekly basis. Such transparency would have been most welcome and helpful in this particular case.
Because the obvious response to Salah stating on Sunday evening that he’s closer to leaving Liverpool than staying is, ‘What the hell is going on at Anfield?’ And the fact of the matter is, nobody outside the club has any idea whatsoever.
