Mo Salah’s future has been the dominant topic of the week for Liverpool fans after his post-match comments last Sunday in which he strongly hinted that this could be his ‘last year’ with the Reds.
There has unsurprisingly been plenty of reaction to his declaration at Old Trafford four days ago, with some pundits interpreting it as a pointed message to the LFC hierarchy and others believing that the Egyptian means what he said.
In a comprehensive report for the Liverpool Echo, which has been published this morning, Paul Gorst has ‘spoken to numerous sources’ on the matter, many of whom indicated that the 32-year-old is eager to remain at Anfield beyond the expiry of his current contract next summer.
Among the reasons cited for Salah’s desire to stay is a determination to draw closer to Ian Rush’s total atop the Reds’ all-time scoring charts and break into the top five in Premier League history, with the latter target just 25 goals away from being achieved. More crucially, the player and his family are settled and happy in Liverpool, with his daughter Makka seen as ‘one of the city’s people in his eyes’.
Another factor which was mentioned is the cautionary tale provided by former LFC teammate Sadio Mane, who at a similar age has seen his reputation diminish during his sojourn in the much-derided Saudi Pro League, who of course had made a £150m offer to our number 11 just over a year ago.
As outlined by Gorst in that article, Liverpool with Michael Edwards involved tend not to let sentiment come into the decision-making process when it comes to contract renewals, with the future rather than the past the determining factor in terms of deciding whether or not to offer a new deal.
It’s a sensible approach which has served the club remarkably well, with several players over the past decade being moved on at a juncture which history had judged to be correct, even if at their time their exits felt enormously damaging.
However, the simple truth is that Salah has consistently hit standards that very few in the Reds’ 132-year history have been able to match, and the manner in which he’s started this season indicates that his levels aren’t on the wane either.
If anything, he looks revitalised after an extended summer break, aided by his decision to skip the Olympic Games despite being wanted for Egypt’s squad. Naturally we’re not going to see the same explosive number 11 who was show-stoppingly exceptional in his first three years at Liverpool, when he was in the prime of his career in the 25-28 age bracket.
However, it’s worth stressing to the numbers-obsessed FSG that three goals and three assists in three games already this season is the return of a man who’s clearly still delivering and will almost certainly continue to do so for another few years, if given the opportunity to do so at Anfield.
If Salah’s age is the only factor holding back the club’s hierarchy, they must ignore it in favour of the ample evidence in front of their eyes that we’re dealing with a generational footballer here. Allowing him to leave for free in 2025 would be criminal.
