Mo Salah is a world-class footballer and athletic freak who Liverpool must break their own rules to keep

With Mohamed Salah’s contract running out and Liverpool reluctant to hand long-term deals to players in their 30s, it is an early test of their new-look boardroom.

“It’s guaranteed points. It’s easy to pick!”

Mo Salah was blunt in his message to supporters when considering whether or not to included him in their fantasy teams for the season ahead – and for good reason, Liverpool’s No. 11 is inevitable.

He backed that up with an immediate return in the Reds’ opening game of the campaign, with a goal and assist in their 2-0 victory over Ipswich at Portman Road. In doing so, he broke the record for the most goals in opening-day fixtures in Premier League history, with nine – having been tied with Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard heading into the game.

Two more goal contributions against Ipswich also lifted Salah to the milestone of 300 goals and assists in just 350 appearances for Liverpool. It is a remarkable tally for a player who is already among the club’s all-time top five goalscorers, behind only Ian Rush, Roger Hunt, Gordon Hodgson and Billy Liddell – legendary names in Liverpool’s history.

Having been such a deadly player under Jürgen Klopp, Salah looks to have been unleashed again in a slightly tweaked role by new head coach Arne Slot.

With the Dutchman preferring a more patient, possession-based approach, Salah’s involvement is more measured, less full-throttle, awaiting the right moment to pounce. That was perfectly summed up when he latched onto Trent Alexander-Arnold’s sumptuously weighted through ball with a run behind Ipswich left-back Leif Davis and, without needing to take a touch, played it across for Diogo Jota to tap in for 1-0.

Salah’s importance to Slot’s new system was seen throughout pre-season, with the Egyptian one of few senior players available throughout the warmup schedule while many others were absent due to the European Championship and Copa America. He was one of four players tied with the most minutes in Liverpool’s pre-season friendlies (290), ending the summer with a goal, two assists, the second-most chances created (five) and the most touches in the opposition’s box (19).

Against Ipswich, he made the joint-most touches in the opposition box (11), had the most shots on goal (four) and created the fourth-most chances (two), while completing more passes (25) than his average per game for the season just gone (21.7). For much of Liverpool’s first competitive game under Slot, their setup overloaded the left-hand side in order to free up space for Alexander-Arnold to create and Salah to attack.

It’s clear that Slot has acknowledged the importance of his most prolific forward, telling reporters after the game: “If I see what he does to keep his body as it is and to be ready to play every game, I think there are many more years inside of him to play.”

While that was not intended as a pointed message to the club’s owners – even if the question was loaded in that direction – it comes at a time when Salah and Liverpool find themselves at a pivotal juncture.

The Egyptian has begun the new campaign with only 10 months remaining on his contract, which as it stands will see him leave the club as a free agent at the end of his eighth season at Anfield.

He is not in that situation alone, with vice-captain Alexander-Arnold and club captain Virgil van Dijk both seeing their terms run out in 2025 and no resolution in sight when it comes to extensions. That has, rightly, concerned supporters given their status in the side and the prospect of finding replacements for three of the best players the club has ever seen in their respective positions all in one summer.

While Van Dijk has been vocal in his desire to stay and there is an expectation that, as a boyhood supporter and an academy graduate, Alexander-Arnold would put pen to paper if the right offer is presented to him, Salah’s future seems more precarious. There is known interest from the Saudi Pro League, so much so that Liverpool rejected a world-record bid from Al-Ittihad for his services back in 2023, and he would likely be the most in-demand free agent since Kylian Mbappé were he to decide to leave.

Salah has earned that reputation, having stood out as a prime example of Liverpool’s success in the transfer market under Fenway Sports Group. Brought in from AS Roma for just £36.9 million in 2017, his worth to the Reds has far exceeded that outlay – and certainly expectations both in the club and from those watching on from the outside. Klopp himself had pushed for Julian Brandt, but was persuaded by sporting director Michael Edwards and the club’s data team that Salah was by far and away the more suitable candidate.

It is timely, then, that Salah’s current predicament comes so soon after Edwards’ return to the fold as chief executive of football for FSG, presiding over all football operations including those at Liverpool – having installed long-time collaborator Richard Hughes in his own former role as sporting director.

Liverpool are known to be reluctant to hand long-term contracts to players in their 30s as part of FSG’s self-sustaining model, which is only magnified by the return of Edwards, who was among those internally critical of new deals for the likes of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in the summer of 2021. Salah, who is 32 and the club’s highest earner on around £350,000 a week, would now fit into this bracket as he and his representatives await contact from the higher-ups at Liverpool over a renewal.

The fact that his terms have been allowed to dwindle will partly be due to the reshuffle off the pitch over 2024, but that it has been left this way could spark fears that Liverpool are ready to let their No. 11 leave next summer.

Only Salah is not like Henderson or Fabinho, players who departed for Saudi Arabia last summer with fans accepting that they had lost a step; Salah is an athletic freak who has shown no signs of slowing down in terms of output. Even if his pace has dropped, his intelligence and technical ability have ensured his threat in final third has not only remained, but arguably improved as he adds new strings to his bow – his rate of key passes (2.34) and progressive passes (5.21) per 90 minutes last season were by far his best creative output since joining Liverpool.

Replacing a player of Salah’s calibre would be near impossible, even with Liverpool’s much-vaunted old guard now back in charge of recruitment. And instead, the best course of action would surely be to break their own rules and hand him another contract in the belief that he can keep this going long into his 30s.

(Images from IMAGO)

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