Mohamed Salah will leave this summer, and Liverpool aren’t expecting to get a dime for him.
It was only a couple of seasons ago that a £100 million Saudi move was on the table, but after he announced his imminent departure, it emerged that Liverpool won’t get a fee for Salah.
He might be getting up there, but it feels wrong for a player of his quality to be let go for nothing. He has a year left on his deal.
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Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes watching on during the Reds' Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (Credit: Getty Images/Robin Jones).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Robin Jones
Former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow has chimed in on this story, and he has a pretty simple explanation.
Christian Purslow shares the ‘cold hard facts’ about Mo Salah leaving Liverpool
Purslow sat down with Henry Winter for an episode of The Football Boardroom podcast, where he outlined the reasons for the 33-year-old going for free.
He begins: “It ignores the cold, hard facts of the two key criteria here in elite footballer recruitment. One: salary. Two: age and profile. And there are a tiny, tiny number of mega star footballers who have moved for large transfer fees in their mid 30s.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is one good example. And I think people hoped that Salah would be another Ronaldo. But there is another factor at large here. It’s quite clear to me that the preferred and favoured destination in that speculation that you were part of was Saudi.”
Mohamed Salah during Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool - Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
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Purslow goes on to mention the current energy crisis in the Gulf and how these things inevitably seep into football. He thinks they are recalibrating their transfer approach, and have been for a while.
As he puts it: “There’s been a change of emphasis. The era where they’ve been buying players over 30 for big transfer fees, bailing out a number of clubs in Europe, particularly Premier League clubs from FFP dilemmas by buying 30, 31, 32-year-old players for £20 million.
“It’s been obvious to me for some time that that era is behind.”
The seasoned football chief sees the situation for what it is. Salah’s age and high salary — now paired with a concerning drop-off in quality — are making clubs hesitant to explore a big-money move for the Egyptian.
Even if no fee is to be had, Liverpool can expect a FFP boost from Salah’s exit.
How many points do you think Liverpool will finish with this season?
It's going to be a LOT less than last year 😬
RTK two line question
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Liverpool might learn a lesson from Mo Salah
Around this time last year, no one would have thought twice about extending Salah for another two seasons. He was the best player in the Premier League — bar none.
In hindsight, they probably would have liked to go in a different direction.
Salah has not justified the new contract this season, and now it seems he will be leaving regardless. Sometimes, the Reds wait too long to get negotiations up and running to renew key players, but the Salah lesson might now be to think twice with players on the downward curve in their careers.
The problem is, he showed no signs of that being the case last term.
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