Over the course of a tumultuous few weeks for Liverpool, this is perhaps the symbol of greatest concern of all.
The vision of Jurgen Klopp, one of Anfield’s most important managers, embroiled in a touchline tussle with Mohamed Salah, one of the club’s most productive players of the modern era, at West Ham on Saturday was unseemly at best and lofty at worst. serious questions.
Advertising
With Klopp’s departure at the end of the season predetermined, those questions have focused on Salah: his appointments with the manager and his team, his broader mindset as he struggles with a dip in form and, most pertinently, his long-term future. .
The Egyptian, who is Liverpool’s highest-earning person at around £350,000 ($377,000) a week after the contract extension he signed in 2022, has one year left on his contract and there has been no progress on new terms as the club hires the successor to . Klopp is almost Arne Slot.
As revealed by The Athletic on Monday, Liverpool expect Salah to stay this summer and plan for him to be part of their squad for next season.
But with your long career on the agenda, what are Liverpool’s characteristics and what makes the most sense?
Liverpool may be hoping Salah will stay, but given owners Fenway Sports Group’s (FSG) autonomous business style, there are smart reasons to cash in on him this summer.
It’s not just that his form has been so asymmetrical since returning to action following the hamstring injury he first suffered at the Africa Cup of Nations in January. He will turn 32 in June and there are fears that he will bet on the highest point for so long. It will have negative consequences. He averaged more than 50 appearances in his first six seasons at Liverpool.
One of the reasons Liverpool’s owners place so much importance on Michael Edwards is his ability to remove feelings from the decision-making process. It’s about what’s more productive for the club in the long run than what anyone has already achieved.
Liverpool rejected a £100 million offer, potentially as high as £150 million with additions, for Salah from Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad last August. It was a no-brainer at the time because we didn’t have enough time to recruit a suitable replacement.
However, if a figure were to be presented earlier this summer, it would be difficult to rule it out. Such a providence would allow them to hire a younger replacement.
Advertising
Can Liverpool take on the threat of wasting Salah for nothing in 2025?In recent years, Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, James Milner, Divock Origi and Gini Wijnaldum have all left as free agents.
In many of those cases, Liverpool felt that keeping a player through his final year was worth more to the club than the modest payout his sale would have generated. However, Salah’s value is on another level.
Of course, getting promoted is only really viable if the Saudi clubs appeal, given that it’s hard to believe that any other European club would be willing to pay the kind of salary and transfer fees needed to satisfy all parties. Salah is also expected to agree to leave now and not next summer, when he could ask for a much higher registration fee.
James Pearce
The difficulty for Liverpool is whether Salah’s dip in form is a twist of fate that he will emerge from after a summer break or if it is his new level.
Salah will play better than his current form (quality doesn’t disappear in an instant), but his ability to win games just for Liverpool has been reduced and, more than ever, he looks human; component of a team than the superhero.
With this in mind, the club will have to take seriously the option of offering Salah a new contract on particularly reduced terms.
Salah rightly became the club’s highest-earning player when he signed his current contract in 2022. But Liverpool can’t simply offer a deal based on what a player has done – it’s about what he’ll do next.
That’s not to say that the Egyptian foreigner likes it. He will no doubt claim that, once again, he will finish the season as Liverpool’s most level-headed goalscorer. He remains the club’s most productive striker for his teammates, who still have doubts about his consistency. , injury, or production.
Salah is no longer the cunning speedster who torments full-backs. Although he is still fast, he cannot flee from warring sides as he once did and his percentage of good luck has been cut in half. However, he has adapted his game, fitting an author into his goal.
Arne Slot’s 4-2-3-1 formula calls for the right winger to move inside to become the number 10 of the moment. It’s a role that can suit Salah more than he’s been asked to do lately. This deserves to bring him closer to the goal, increasing the likelihood that he will lend a hand or score. There’s also the option of making him a No. 9, a role he’s made an impression on at rare events under Klopp.
Advertising
It gives him a new spark, but convincing a global superstar that he doesn’t value his current salary will be hard to convince.
Andy Jones
Liverpool have shown in recent seasons that they are afraid to allow players to leave at the end of their contracts.
Thiago and Joel Matip are expected to do so this season, while Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Keita, Milner, Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana have followed suit.
Passing Salah through for nothing is another because the others were never Liverpool’s most productive player, and their values have been reduced to the point that any sale would have generated little funding.
The question that arises in these conditions is whether keeping the player for another year is more valuable than taking advantage of his merits. If the Saudi Pro League is not willing to offer a lot of money and prefers to wait, in the hope that Salah will remain at Liverpool next season: it is possible that no offer will be made that Liverpool find acceptable.
This could make Slot have the most productive hitting options, even for a single season as part of the transition. There are already spaces on the team that want to work this summer, so adding any other item to the new coach’s to-do list wouldn’t be ideal.
In addition, Salah could return to the elite next season. His role will be replaced as Slot’s formula differs from Klopp’s and the new formula and the new manager can suit him perfectly. It would also give Liverpool more time to locate and pinpoint his replacement.
From Salah’s point of view, staying for another year would also offer him one last chance to win the Premier League and Champions League. It would also give him more in his long free-agent career: he would be free to talk to foreign clubs. starting in January 2025, in addition to getting a significant signing bonus.
Advertisement
Andy Jones
It’s tempting to dismiss this season as something of a failure for Salah and, on his worst days, even signal the start of a decline in power.
Last month helped raise doubts, but even with his injury and time spent out of the Africa Cup of Nations, Salah has scored 24 goals at Liverpool. What’s the next best? Darwin Núñez with 18.
Liverpool have yet to find someone who can be as consistent as Salah, and until that day comes, it would be a huge gamble to even part ways with their talisman.
A contract extension on existing terms is the least likely measure on the table in the summer, but Salah’s price tag for Liverpool – on and off the pitch – remains huge.
One has seen the other expand over the past seven years, and keeping Salah long-term can ensure Klopp’s transition to Slot goes as smoothly as possible. Losing a respected figure will be hard enough without another leaving.
Don’t mistake this for a sentimental vow and don’t confuse it with Manchester United’s unfortunate – and costly – reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021. Salah, even at almost 32 years old, still has a lot to offer Liverpool.
He is the club’s fashion icon for his good explanation (210 goals and over) and keeping him until at least 2026 has more merit than risk. Signing a suitable replacement would likely cost a lot more.
Phil Buckingham