With star forward Mohamed Salah, 32, rumoured to be moving to Saudi Arabia and his current contract about to expire in the summer of 2020, Liverpool must decide whether to sign him to a new contract or not.
Mo Salah has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia (Image: Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah won’t be going anywhere this summer, according to Liverpool, even if he doesn’t sign a new deal.
The 32-year-old Salah’s current contract with Liverpool expires in 12 months, and the team is allegedly attempting to persuade the Egyptian goal machine to continue at Anfield past 2025. The contracts of vice captain Trent Alexander-Arnold and captain Virgil van Dijk are also about to expire, and it will be up to Michael Edwards, Julian Ward, and Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s new backroom staff, to convince them to stay.
The Reds don’t want to give updates on the status of contract talks because they think it will just cause Arne Slot, the new head coach, further distractions while he gets used to his new position at Anfield. Hughes stood next to the Dutchman during Slot’s introduction on Friday at the team’s AXA training facility in Kirkby, outlining the club’s position on Salah, van Dijk, and Alexander-Arnold, according to the Mirror.
Hughes was cautious not to divulge too much information, saying that the club and the players’ representatives discuss contracts in private. He did, however, state that he expected all three players to be totally dedicated to Liverpool for the upcoming campaign.
It appears from this announcement that Liverpool will not be able to sell Salah before the August 30 summer transfer deadline. Just before the transfer window closed last year, the club rejected a £150 million bid from Saudi Arabia for their star player, who has scored 211 goals in 349 games for the Reds across all competitions during his stay at Anfield.
What would have been a record-breaking transaction for Liverpool had been suggested by one Saudi side. Salah’s condition is allegedly being monitored by Al-Ittihad, but no concrete action has been taken as of yet. Hughes, the sporting director, said: “I don’t think it would be fair for me to talk about contractual situations.”
“The club and the players are discussing these in private. Arne and I am confident that the players will give their all to the cause in the upcoming season, which is the only circumstance that worries us.”
According to this plan, Salah—who will report back for preseason training on Saturday—may leave on a Bosman in July of next year. However, considering his value to the team, Liverpool may decide that this is a risk worth taking. Hughes predicts a calm July before transfer activity picks up steam the following month. Liverpool might not be too busy, having finished off much of their business last summer.
Hughes has had to get off to a quick start since joining from Bournemouth at the end of the last campaign, but he says he enjoys working with Slot. “Working with Arne is fantastic,” he remarked. “It’s obvious that at initially it was a challenging situation because we both had work to do and a crucial season to wrap up at Liverpool.
“Since then we’ve been in communication daily on many things – logistics, organisation and, of course, preparing for the transfer window.” As time goes on and we get to spend more time with the present team—which we are thrilled to have inherited—we will learn more about it.
“We have to get better, both on and off the training pitch. We’ll always take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. We will try to make improvements where we can as we proceed.”
