Mohamed Salah has claimed he though there was a “10 per cent” chance of him renewing his Liverpool contract as he knows “how they deal with players over 30.”
Liverpool entered April faced with quite the predicament. Each of Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold were in the final year of their respective contracts, so would have been able to walk away for free at the end of the season.
The former pair did sign renewals at Anfield in April, while Alexander-Arnold revealed in May that he’d be leaving.
But Salah has admitted he thought he’d be going the same way, in a chat with Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Asked by the pundit what he thought the chances of him staying at Liverpool were, Salah replied: “Based on the club’s history, 10 per cent. Yeah, because I knew the philosophy of the club.
“I’m not attacking them, I know how they deal with players over 30 in the past. I know how this situation would be.
“I did not expect the club would say ‘two years there.’ We reached a point with the money where we were all happy.
“I didn’t expect I am going to stay, in my head I would not stay.”
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Salah thought he was gone
It spoke volumes that, in November, with no offer on the table, Salah revealed to the media he felt he may be leaving.
“Well, we are almost in December and I haven’t received any offers yet to stay in the club, [so] I’m probably more out than in,” he said.
It was suggested that Liverpool were wary of offering Salah the two-year deal that he wanted, as he is now 32 and while he’s having his best ever season – with 33 goals and 23 assists in all competitions – he might start to dwindle.
It’s currently hard to imagine the Egyptian having a slump, but it could indeed happen. In any case, the Reds did give him what he wanted, though Saudi Arabian clubs are continuing to push for him.
Liverpool round-up: Reds urged to go after Cucurella
Liverpool are expected to sign a replacement for the ageing Andy Robertson this summer, and Glen Johson has told them they should be “doing everything” to sign Marc Cucurella from Chelsea.
On the other side of the defence, they’ve been told by Darren Bent that Denzel Dumfries should be the man they pursue.
Meanwhile, Lyon attacker Rayan Cherki is said to ‘want to join’ Liverpool.
That’s after the Premier League champions were one of the clubs who were offered the services of the French star.
Salah at Liverpool quiz