DUBAI: For fans of Egypt and Liverpool it is hard to know which sight was better on Tuesday. Was it Mohamed Salah scoring two fine goals in a memorable 4-0 dismantling of Manchester United in front of 50,000 delighted fans at Anfield — a win that put the hosts back on top of the English Premier League — or how happy he looked after the game as he stood next to Thiago Alcantara, another impressive performer on the night?
“You wait until the next one,” said a smiling Salah to the Spanish midfielder as they were interviewed on television, referring to Sunday’s Merseyside Derby against Everton. “You’ve never played a derby here, so you wait for the next one. It’s going to be much more fun.”
It was a revealing and familiar moment. People in many walks of life and careers have told junior colleagues that what they had just experienced — a busy day working in a restaurant, shop or office — may have been something special but that they had seen nothing yet.
The 29-year-old looked like a proud, happy employee of Liverpool Football Club. Part of that was surely due to the fact that he scored. Before the visit of United, the Egyptian had not found the net in open play since February.
“We’ve spoken before about all the physical demands he has faced in the last few months, so it’s completely normal,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said at the start of the week. “It’s only a question of time when he will score as well.”
The German was right, as was Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold. “The levels he gets himself to, he’s kind of a victim of his own success,” the England star said. “He’s still top goalscorer, he’s one behind me in terms of assists and people are saying he’s having a bad run of form? He’s nearly top goalscorer in the Champions League as well. What he has done for us over the last five seasons has been outstanding.”
The stats back up such assertions. Since arriving at Anfield from AS Roma in 2017, the African has scored 155 goals in 245 appearances, helping the Reds win the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
As the season enters its final phase, Liverpool have already won the League Cup, are in the final of the FA Cup, are competing with Manchester City for the league title and preparing for a Champions League semifinal against Villarreal. Salah is also the current top scorer in the league with 22 so far this season, five more than Son Heung-min in second. He has become a Liverpool legend.
At the moment however, while Salah’s goals are one part of the conversation, as are chances of an unprecedented quadruple, it is impossible to discuss the player without mentioning his contract. He has just over one year left on his current deal. While there have been negotiations, fans are still waiting for an announcement. If no new deal is signed, the forward can leave for nothing in the summer of 2023 and can start talking to other clubs from January.
After events on Tuesday, a parting of the ways seems unthinkable, but in a new interview with FourFourTwo in England, published on April 22, Salah said “I don’t know,” when asked if he was confident about staying at the club. “I think the fans know what I want, but in the contract it’s not everything about the money at all.”
It has been suggested that Liverpool are reluctant to give the star a major raise as it could then lead to other senior players in the squad seeking similar deals, putting the strict pay structure at Anfield at risk.
As a soon to be 30-year-old, it may well be that Salah is more concerned about the length of contract than about the size of the pay packet. Given his physical condition, there is no reason why he cannot stay at the top of the European game for some time to come.
“Now you can see that with players — all of them extend their careers,” he said. “You can see the top, top players always after 32, 33, you can see a lot of them — Lewandowski, Benzema, Messi, Ronaldo, Zlatan, a lot of players; also Dzeko in Italy, Giroud. All of them perform really well after 30, so I’m not concerned about that.”
Online discussions ask what other options Salah would have. There are hardly any clubs at Liverpool’s level, and surely none where he would be quite so happy. “This club means a lot to me — I’ve enjoyed my football here more than anywhere, I gave the club everything and everybody saw that,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of unbelievable moments here, winning trophies, individual goals, individual trophies. It’s like a family here.
“I’m not worried, I don’t let myself worry about something. The season didn’t finish yet, so let’s finish it in the best possible way — that’s the most important thing. Then in the last year, we’re going to see what’s going to happen.”
It does leave the situation up in the air, but journalists hoping that Klopp is going to help settle things will be disappointed.
“It’s my fault, I made a mistake with talking to you about the Mo contract situation which I usually don’t do,” Klopp said this week after being asked about the contract situation of Salah’s fellow forward Sadio Mane. “It led to plenty of misunderstandings and you ask again, so I go back to my former approach and close the door again.”
The conversation may die down a little until the end of the season, as Liverpool continue to fight on all fronts, but as soon as it all comes to an end next month, the contract situation of Mohamed Salah is going to become one of the most debated issues in world football.