Liverpool fans hoping that Mo Salah would be sorted out with a new contract by the end of December have had their wishes shattered by the player himself.
The Egyptian reached the 20-goal landmark for the eighth successive season on Sunday as he netted one of the Reds’ five in a masterclass performance away to West Ham, with a phenomenal 30 goal involvements in the Premier League in just under half a campaign (Sky Sports).
The 32-year-old was awarded Player of the Match by Sky Sports for his exploits at the London Stadium, and he spoke to the broadcaster shortly after the final whistle.
When asked if he’d be able to ‘give good news soon’ regarding his contract – his current deal has just six months remaining – Salah replied: “We are far away from that.
“I don’t want to put something in the media and people start saying stuff, but nothing really has moved on. For now I’m focused on the team and hopefully we win the Premier League.”
Although Arne Slot said after yesterday’s match that he’s ‘happy with all three’ contract situations at Liverpool (Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold), the Egyptian’s comments won’t have done anything to alleviate fans’ nerves over his future.
It would appear that there’s still a long road to travel before the 32-year-old commits to a new deal at Anfield, and he’s spoken out a couple of times in the past few weeks about the matter, with reliable sources indicating that he’d like to stay put but is frustrated with how negotiations have been handled.
Some might believe that his comments after the West Ham thrashing are all part of a game to try and leverage the club into satisfying his contractual expectations, with the forward no doubt aware that the fans would be on his side and will be imploring FSG to, as Jamie Carragher put it, ‘give Mo his dough’.
The worry for Liverpool fans is that, from Wednesday, Salah would be free to speak with overseas clubs about a potential pre-contract agreement if he wishes to do so. However, as outlined by The Telegraph‘s Chris Bascombe in recent days, talks with prospective suitors would already be well underway if they were intently pursuing the player.
Nonetheless, it’d be nice if the matter could be resolved sooner rather than later so that we can all finally relax about our iconic number 11!
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