Jamie Carragher is convinced Mo Salah will remain at Anfield and will soon commit to a new contract having shared a significant update on the Egyptian’s situation and having also revealed why moves to four eye-catching destinations are no longer a possibility.
Salah has been in electric form this season, amassing 28 goal contributions (16 goals, 12 assists) from just 22 appearances so far this season. Fuelled by a desire to prove to Liverpool he is worthy of another giant contract, the Egyptian king has looked simply irresistible under Arne Slot so far this term.
However, with days ticking down to that January 1 deadline – now just 20 days away – when Salah can sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas side of his choosing, the Reds remain in something of a tricky spot over his future. He will turn 33 over the summer and is already the club’s highest earner on a colossal £350,000 a week, leaving FSG with the conundrum of whether to tie him down to a lengthy new arrangement and with a possible pay-rise to boot.
Losing the player as a free agent is one scenario they do want to avoid, and with those contract talks at a critical venture, Carragher has now revealed his optimism and belief that the star will commit his future to Anfield.
“I think he will stay because there aren’t too many options,” Carragher told the Stick To Football podcast on Thursday. “I don’t think he’s ready to go to Saudi, he can do that in three years. I think he’s that driven as a footballer in terms of getting records for Liverpool.”
Carragher is also convinced that moves to other major European sides like Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG would also not be easy.
“I don’t think he will,” Carragher responded when asked by Roy Keane if he thinks Salah would have ‘plenty of other options’ should he leave Liverpool. “Listen, I love Mo Salah he’s one of the best players in the world. But the reason I say this is because of his age.”
Carragher continued: “Let’s say for instance he’s on £400k-per-week, and I don’t like throwing numbers out like that. When you’re on that type of money and you’re talking about a raise, it’s not 10 grand per week or 20 grand per week. So, let’s say he wants a little bit more.
“Real Madrid have got, how many attackers? Barcelona are in dire straits financially, PSG are nowhere near the team yet.”
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Carragher also believes Salah will be motivated by not just the fact that he can smash every goalscoring record at Anfield out the window, but also by the fact that he has a strong chance of winning the game’s top honours for Liverpool.
“Listen, there’s only four or five teams who could realistically win the Champions League – and Liverpool are probably one of them – I don’t see him at any of those two or three teams right now [winning it],” Carragher added.
At the same time, Carragher has also admitted that there is a cloak of silence being shielded around Salah from Liverpool over those negotiations, with the legendary former Reds defender revealing they have refused to provide him with an update over those talks.
“Me personally, I think he should stay on the same money, and give him a two-year deal,” Carragher said.
“Now, the club might be offering him one he might want three, I don’t know what it is, and I’ve tried to get information from the club, I’ll be honest with you, because I knew I was going to get asked about it. But the club are not giving anything.
“There’s always this game and the club might feed something to a local journalist that he wants this much. The club have not said a word, no one knows a word and rightly so, that’s the way it should be done.”
Sources have told us that negotiations with Salah continue apace behind the scenes and there remains cautious optimism from within Anfield that an agreement can soon be reached. It’s also understood that Salah’s foremost priority remains on staying on Merseyside.
That’s a view also shared by Sky Sports News presenter Melissa Reddy, who has revealed that any arrangement will ensure the player will continue to be Liverpool’s highest earner, irrespective of what Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are offered.
“He [Salah] has made it abundantly clear that he wants to remain at Liverpool,” said Reddy on theTransfer Talk podcast. “And that is a very good position for the club to be in, in terms of these negotiations.
“Now, given Salah’s form, you do have the course of giving what he wants, but that is never how a negotiation starts. And I do know they’re getting closer in terms of discussing the structure of payments.
“He is the highest earner at the club, and he will continue to be the highest earner at the club even after these negotiations because of his form and worth beyond the pitch, deserves it.
“But it’s that how much of his payment is fixed, how much is variable based on performances, does he want to or do the club want to switch that balance because of his age?
“Then it is trying to protect against any dip in form and contract length. Is it a player option? Is it a dual mutual option? These are taxing things.
“And then you have to throw into the equation, Salah’s image rights, which is unlike what it is for any other player at the club, he is a commercial behemoth, especially when it comes to markets that Liverpool don’t ordinarily touch, like the Middle East.
“So I do know that from both parties side, they want to get it sorted. Salah would like to get it sorted soon, incredibly soon, he would have preferred if it was already done and dusted, given his frustrations being made public.”
Latest Liverpool contract news: Alexander-Arnold fears; Van Dijk hope
As widely known, it is not just Salah that Liverpool are negotiating a new deal with and there has been sizeable updates over both Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk this week.
Starting with the Liverpool captain and a report has revealed the exact reasons why the towering Dutchman has rejected the Reds’ first contract proposal, though fears the 33-year-old could depart have also been eradicated with a strong update over the player’s intentions.
It’s not such positive news, however, around Alexander-Arnold with an update from Spain claiming Real Madrid now have a strong belief that the 26-year-old will opt for a move to the Bernabeu in 2025 and with the date when the move will be announced also coming to light.
Alexander-Arnold is arguably the club’s most famous academy graduate in recent times, though the Reds do have a plethora of young stars desperate to follow in his footsteps.
Now the Reds have further bolstered their academy by raiding Manchester City for a hugely promising 16-year-old talent who has delivered a simple 12-word message upon sealing his move to Merseyside.
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Mohamed Salah
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