Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah sent shockwaves throughout the footballing world as he suggested that he probably could leave the club at the end of the season.
The timing of his outburst was lamentable. The Reds will face Real Madrid, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Everton in their next ten days, but the focus has shifted to Salah’s comments instead.
Melissa Reddy has suggested that while Liverpool have opened talks with Salah’s representatives, there is a gap between what the player wants and what the club are willing to offer, and it is not an easy solution.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, Liverpool players have been left “shocked” by Salah’s behaviour. He gave an interview (something he hasn’t done in the past five years) to a few journalists in the mixed zone after Liverpool won 3-2 against Southampton on Sunday at St Mary’s.
The Reds players were “shocked to see him stroll over to reporters – to TV networks in Egypt who were running round-the-clock coverage on their biggest export.”
There is a high chance Salah could leave
Salah wants to stay at the club, and Liverpool are willing to keep him.
He will turn 33 in a few months’ time, and the club will probably be hesitant to offer him a long-term deal.
The Fenway Sports Group do not usually offer long-term lucrative deals to players over 30, but can they make an exception for Salah?
A parallel analogy can be drawn with Mookie Betts, the baseball player who was allowed to walk away from the Boston Red Sox owned by FSG.
Like Salah, Betts was their star man and best-paid player. He wanted to stay, but with no offer coming up, he moved to Los Angeles Dodgers instead.
Can Liverpool make an exception?
This is one half of the story. The other side is that Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold are exceptionally talented players and can’t be replaced easily.
Salah is still Liverpool’s top scorer this season, with 12 goals in all competitions. He has also provided ten assists.
He is showing no signs of slowing down. It looks likely that a compromise has to be reached from both ends if he wants to continue at Anfield.
