Jurgen Klopp’s methods at Anfield are certainly improving the atmosphere at the club but losing their talisman Philippe Coutinho half-way through the season has seen some of their fans stay pessimistic of the chances of the club retaining top talent for years to come.
One such player, who has taken the Premier League by storm this season and is already linked with an exit is Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah. Currently the leader in the race to the European Golden Shoe, the former AS Roma man has been in breathtaking form this season and is just four goals away from creating Premier League history, in his debut season at Anfield.
Klopp’s system has a lot to do with the numbers Salah has amassed this season but the 25-year old has shown time and again that he has evolved into one of the finest wingers in the game at the moment.
Liverpool’s only shot at silverware this season is the Champions League, where they are rank outsiders and lack of recent success at the club might see them lose out on their star players time and again and this time it is Salah.
His expertise have seen the likes of Real Madrid show interest in his services and reports from Spain today claim that Florentino Perez is ready to do what it takes to land him this summer.
Los Blancos are expected to see a squad overhaul at the end of the season and see Salah as a long-term replacement for their speedster Gareth Bale. However, the same report also claims that Liverpool value their star player at €225m, which is quite steep, even for the Spanish giants.
But Perez is ready to offer Lucas Vasquez as a part of the deal to lure him to Bernabeu but can Liverpool afford to lose Salah?
It is widely popular that South American footballers want to play in the La Liga, which smoothened the blow of losing Coutinho for the Reds. But they have no reason what so ever to lose their 36-goal striker anytime soon.
Liverpool are close to being at their best after a long time and will need to retain the core of the squad that has got them there. Though chances of Salah leaving Anfield after just a season are really slim, losing him would be a big blow for the club.
At the moment, he is almost irreplaceable and losing star players at such regular intervals will also dampen the spirits in the camp. Klopp and FSG should do all it takes to retain Salah but more importantly, Liverpool need to start converting their form into trophies, to avoid a repeat of the ‘Coutinho saga’.
