Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has accused Mohamed Salah of playing “mind games” with the club over his contract situation.
The Egyptian’s future still remains up in the air, with his current contract set to expire at the end of the season. Unless he signs a new deal in the next couple of weeks or so, Salah will be able to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club in January.
Liverpool has now made offers to Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. There is no word yet on whether the former will accept, although recent reports have suggested he is close to signing a new two-year deal.
The 32-year-old has been urged by his teammates to put pen to paper on an extension at Anfield, with Salah once again providing the winner for the Reds in their Champions League clash with Girona on Tuesday. The winger though has dropped hints that he could be in his final year with the club, having claimed to be “more out than in” recently.
Speaking to Betfred, Johnson believes Salah’s recent messages are just part of his efforts to get an improved offer at Liverpool, and that he doesn’t want to leave Anfield.
“There’s clearly a lot of games going on and Mo knows that he’s in a powerful position,” Johnson said. “He’s playing the game and probably wants to stay, but he’s just using all these tactics to get himself an extra few years more than Liverpool want to give him or whether it’s money or whatever.
Mohamed Salah has been in superb form for Liverpool this season
Mohamed Salah has been in superb form for Liverpool this season (Image: Getty Images)
“He knows he’s in the driving seat and can pretty much do what he wants. He may feel like talking to the press is his last resort and so he can let people know that he wants to stay. All the negotiations are just mind games.”
Liverpool.com says: Salah has clearly known what he’s doing in recent weeks. It’s extremely rare that he stops to speak to the press after a game, so the fact that he chose to do so after the Southampton game does seem like a concerted effort to put the pressure on Liverpool over his contract.
He has shown this season though that he is fully deserving of a new deal, and hopefully the offer that has been made to him will meet his demands. Liverpool would have quite the job on its hands trying to replace him if he does depart.