At the start of the 2024-25 season, there were plenty of question marks surrounding the future of superstar forward Mohamed Salah, with the 32-year-old Egyptian in the final year of his contract and nobody entirely certain what would happen in negotiations with the club.
He made it clear through the season his goal was to extend his time with Liverpool, but as the months passed and no deal came uncertainty grew. He says, though, that had he not eventually agreed a deal, his likely destination would have been the Saudi Pro League.
There was speculation at times that one of the Spanish giants or perhaps Paris Saint-Germain could be a landing spot, but Salah admitted this week in an interview with ON Sport that leaving Europe likely would have been the result had he not renewed with the Reds.
“My contract was about to end at the club and I thought if I didn’t renew there I was a very good chance that I would go there,” Salah admitted. “In the end we reached an agreement with the club but I still have a good relationship with the people in Saudi Arabia.
“Of course, [the fans] put pressure on the club. It came from the public, because I have been at the club for seven or eight years and have been performing well for them and I have given them everything. From the beginning, I knew that they wanted me to stay, so in they had a big role.”
Salah went on to add that he wants to keep playing well beyond the new two-year deal he signed late in the season with Liverpool, adding that he sees himself still playing football until he’s “39 or 40” and at least not closing off the possibility of retiring as a Red.
On the evidence of the just completed campaign, one that saw Salah have an all-time great season for an attacking player in England and set himself out as one of the favourites for the Ballon d’Or, you wouldn’t put it past him being able to perform at a high level for a long time to come.