A quiet rookie season for Arne Slot is shaken by Mohamed Salah’s revelation that he is “more out than in” at Liverpool. Salah’s assertion on the pitch is unsupported, and while he and sporting director Richard Hughes are new to the club, Salah’s contract posturing is not.
Salah rarely gives post-game interviews, but Sunday’s at Southampton was typical. After a match-winning goal, the jersey was removed, resulting in a yellow card but revealing a chiseled figure. Just in case anyone is curious how he is at 32.
After scoring his 11th and 12th goals of the season, Liverpool led the Premier League by eight points, and Salah told reporters he was disappointed not to have received a formal contract offer and that a resolution is “not in my hands”.
The Egypt international repeatedly used the line to vent his dissatisfaction about Liverpool’s contract extension delay.
After more than a year, Salah signed a three-year, £350,000-a-week contract in July 2022. Salah’s representative, Ramy Abbas Issa, said his deal earns him at least £1m a week in image rights and playing targets.
The Sunday interview suggests a well-rehearsed and successful negotiation tactic. If so, Salah and his agent can try again. The superstar forward has 12 goals and 10 assists in 18 games this season.
He was the first player in Europe’s top five divisions to reach double figures in both categories this season. He remains the difference-maker for a club on track to win the Premier League and top the Champions League group with the only 100% record.
Before the week ends, Liverpool might damage Manchester City and Real Madrid’s trophy holds. “Best player in the world,” Abbas Issa wrote about his client on 11 November. The implication was plain. Claim was valid.
The timing of the strategy to ensure the “best player in the world”’s value in 2024 differs. Both sides. Salah went public with his disappointment over discussions last time out with two years left on his deal.
Seven months till he can leave on a free transfer and 37 days until he can sign a pre-contract with a foreign team.
Salah first expressed dissatisfaction with this extension and his desire to continue at Old Trafford in September after scoring one and creating two in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Manchester United.
“Nobody in the club has talked to me about contracts,” Salah remarked. That doesn’t mean no one mentioned contracts to Abbas Issa.
This time, Salah’s team and Liverpool may have waited longer to negotiate a new contract. Since Jürgen Klopp informed Fenway Sports Group of his resignation in November 2018, the club has undergone a major transformation.
After Klopp left, FSG restructured its football department, with Michael Edwards returning as football chief executive. A new manager, or head coach, and sporting director were needed to succeed Julian Ward. Salah’s touchline behavior at West Ham and his difficult relationship with Klopp at the end of last season did not help contract talks.
Salah should evaluate Slot’s performance before extending his outstanding seven-year tenure at Liverpool. Liverpool will have wanted to see how Salah fit into the new coach’s philosophy before pursuing him.
Age, which Salah is defying, must be considered by any team providing a hefty contract to a 33-year-old in June. The issue was less urgent in 2022.
Virgil van Dijk, who is also in great form, is out of contract at the end of the season and turns 34 next July. The players want to stay.
The Reds want both players staying. However, how and how long they reward the club’s two highest earners after their peak will determine if they do so.
“Extending a contract with a player like Mo is not something where you meet for a cup of tea in the afternoon and find an agreement,” Klopp remarked before Salah signed again in 2022.
This is a lengthy, arduous process for Hughes and Abbas Issa. Liverpool said talks are going well and Salah is telling the truth when he says there is no offer. It’s unlikely that will last.
Liverpool proved Salah’s worth by awarding his last contract in 2022 and rejecting £150m from Al-Ittihad the following summer.
Last season’s Champions League qualification after a year and this season’s Premier League title pursuit proved their conviction that he was more valuable to Liverpool. Liverpool must make Salah feel included again soon.
