Recent reports from the Daily Mail suggest that Liverpool are keen on extending Mohamed Salah’s contract by four years as Jurgen Klopp wants to see him tied down to the Merseyside club for the peak years of his career.
If the negotiations succeed, it will take the Egyptian winger above Virgil Van Dijk (presently on £220,000-a-week) in the list of Liverpool’s top earners, making him the highest-paid player in the club’s history.
“It’s hard because it’s not like the renewals have been going through in order of importance,” said James Martin on a recent episode of the Liverpool.com podcast.
“If they were, then Salah would have been higher up the list. They have been broadly going in that order, but Salah’s is harder to sort out for various reasons.
“We’ve seen his agent on Twitter, and he’s going to want big money – he’s already the joint highest earner in the squad and the joint highest earner in the history of the club.
“Any new deal for him would be breaking new ground now, it’s going to be the hardest to thrash out, but it’s going to be the priority.”
A number of his teammates – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Alisson Becker, and Virgil van Dijk – have already penned down new long term contracts at the club, whereas Jordan Henderson has reportedly agreed on a deal in principle for a three-year contract extension.
A Wise Move For Everyone Involved?
Mohamed Salah joined Liverpool from the Italian side Roma in the summer of 2017 for a fee in the region of £36.9 million, and it would be an understatement to say that he has been an absolute hit at Anfield.
The 29-year-old has bagged 126 goals and 49 assists in 204 matches since making his debut for the Reds, and he even ended the 2020/21 season with 22 goals, just one behind golden boot winner Harry Kane.
Moreover, with three-goal contributions against Norwich City last week, the 70-times Egypt international has begun the new season on a strong note as well, and it doesn’t seem like he is going to slow down anytime soon.
Salah’s contract renewal would provide Liverpool, and Jurgen Klopp with a major boost in the long term as no amount of money would be able to replace his rate of output in front of the goal. Furthermore, Salah is the key if Liverpool are to challenge for major titles in the coming seasons.
Hence, the board should do everything possible within their reach to make sure that he commits his future to the club.
(Stats from trnasfermarkt)
