One Liverpool player apparently took his teammates by surprise with what he did at St Mary’s on Sunday afternoon.
The euphoria of the hard-fought 3-2 win over Southampton gave way to doubt and anxiety after Mo Salah told reporters that he’s yet to be offered a new contract by his club with just seven months remaining on his existing deal, and that right now he seems ‘probably more out than in’.
His comments struck a nerve with Jamie Carragher, who rebuked him for speaking publicly about the situation just ahead of a blockbuster double header against Real Madrid and Manchester City, and also drew attention to the rarity of the 32-year-old in conversation with the press immediately after a game.
In an article for the Daily Mail, Lewis Steele also noted how unusual it was to see Salah making a beeline for the mixed zone – something he’s hardly ever done in just over seven years at Liverpool – and the Egyptian’s act even caught his own teammates by surprise.
The journalist wrote: ‘Clearly, Salah’s words have sent shockwaves throughout the footballing world, right from team-mates waiting on the bus – who were said to be shocked to see him stroll over to reporters – to TV networks in Egypt who were running round-the-clock coverage on their biggest export.’
On the rare occasions that Salah enters the mixed zone, it tends to make headlines. When he did so after a 2-2 draw at West Ham in April – the day that he exchanged strong words with Jurgen Klopp on the touchline – he set reporters’ notebooks alight by commenting ‘If I speak today there will be fire’.
Given his consistent match-winning brilliance for several years, in tandem with his delicate contract situation, it’s inevitable that any public utterances which might even be tenuously linked with his Liverpool future will attract widespread attention.
We can only wonder just what his teammates made of him addressing the matter publicly on Sunday, in particular Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, who are in the same boat of having just seven months remaining on their current deals.
What Salah undoubtedly has done is pointed the spotlight at FSG, with Reds supporters left wondering just why the hierarchy haven’t properly addressed the Egyptian’s future by now.
Reliable sources such as David Ornstein have reassured Liverpool fans that club and player have been in negotiations over a potential new contract, so hopefully an agreement will soon be reached and all the will-he-or-won’t-he hysteria will finally be put to bed.
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