Liverpool have been told by former manager Graeme Souness that it will not be cheap to replace Mohamed Salah
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Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah(Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Liverpool have been told it will cost approaching £150million to replace Mohamed Salah should the Egyptian leave at the end of the season - and that they are now in a "hard place" regarding the player. Salah is at present set to depart when his contract expires next summer with talks having not yet reached a resolution over a new deal.
The forward went public at the weekend to express his disappointment that a formal offer had not yet been forthcoming from the Reds.
And former Liverpool captain and manager Graeme Souness has warned his old club they would have to spend heavily to acquire a replacement of similar standing to Salah next summer.
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“Replacing Mohamed Salah wouldn’t cost Liverpool merely £70m, it’d be double that," he said. "Even so, there isn’t a replacement out there. There isn’t a like-for-like replacement out there who can score 30 goals a season. If there was, you’d be spending a lot more than £100m to get them.
"The minute Liverpool come knocking, the price will be inflated because it’s Liverpool, they’re in the Premier League, and they’re under pressure to buy. They’ll pay a premium on a premium on a premium! They’re in a hard place.”
Souness added: “I don’t believe for one minute that Liverpool haven’t been in contact with him or his representatives. There’s no advantage for Liverpool in not speaking to him.
"I’ve asked myself why he’s come out and said that’s the case - the cynical attitude is that he’s heaping it right on the club and giving them the choice to either say nothing and keep him onside, or come out and protect themselves and reveal that negotiations have been going on. Therefore, they’d be calling him a liar, which would make it easier for him to leave."
Souness pointed to the recent experience of Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne to show how top players can decline quickly, and believes a compromise can be reached between Salah and Liverpool to extend his Anfield commitment.
“The best two players in the Premier League for the last five years have been Salah and Kevin De Bruyne," he said, speaking to William Hill's Three Up Front podcast. "But with De Bruyne, it’s like someone has flicked a switch. Some players just fall off a cliff when they get older and it’s like black and white.
"With other players it happens slower but it happened to De Bruyne within the space of a year. If Liverpool hand Salah a three-year contract, a year from now we could be having the same conversation about him as we are about De Bruyne.
“If I was advising Salah, I’d tell him to sign for another year and then see where you are after that. If it was purely about football, Salah wouldn’t leave Liverpool now.
"He has said that Liverpool is such a special club to play for and it is. Is that his main pull to stay? Ultimately, for him and to keep everyone happy, I think he should sign for a year and see where he is after that."