Empire of the Kop
·25 November 2024
Empire of the Kop
·25 November 2024
Mo Salah has now suggested that he’s more likely to depart Liverpool at the end of the season than extend his stay at Anfield.
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The Egyptian King’s current terms are set to expire in the summer of 2025, with the club understood to be in negotiations with the player’s agent Ramy Abbas Issa.
The former Roma hitman is the Reds’ highest-earner on the wage book, earning a reported £350,000-a-week, plus performance-related bonuses on top.
* Figures courtesy of Capology
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
The Echo’s Paul Gorst shared an interview with Salah following Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday.
The 32-year-old was decisive once again in the Reds’ impressive comeback victory contributing from the spot, after levelling the scoreline, to secure all three points for Arne Slot’s visitors.
He’s now admitted that he could yet leave L4 at the end of the season with a new contract offer still yet to materialise: “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.
“You know I have been in the club for many years. There is no club like this. But in the end it is not in my hands. As I said before, it is December and I haven’t received anything yet about my future.
“I love the fans. The fans love me. In the end it is not in my hands or the fans’ hands. Let’s wait and see. Of course [no offer is disappointing], yeah.
“I’m not going to retire soon so I’m just playing, focusing on the season and I’m trying to win the Premier League and hopefully the Champions League as well. I’m disappointed but we will see.
“I’m very professional. Everybody can see my work ethic. I’m just trying to enjoy my football and I will play at the top level as long as possible. I’m just doing my best because this is who I am and I try to give it all for myself and for the club. We will see what happens next.”
This comes at a time when fellow key men Virgil van Dijk (33) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (26) are also on course to leave the club when their contracts expire at the end of the 2024/25 season.
It remains to be seen whether any of the trio will stay put on the red half of Merseyside at the curtain call of Arne Slot’s opening season in charge.
We’re obviously big fans of the transfer decisions we’ve seen from Michael Edwards historically, and we’ve no doubt Richard Hughes will very much follow in his footsteps over the course of his Anfield career.
But how on earth can we support this laboured approach to contract talks with one of the most legendary figures in the club’s history?
Say what you will about considering the future and the wage budget – perfectly reasonable considerations by and large – but sometimes you have to make exceptions for the truly exceptional players.
Will Liverpool be in a vastly better position next term and in the long term by allowing one of their best (if not the best) assets to depart for nothing in 2025?
We’re struggling to come to terms with that eventuality.
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