According to Fabrizio Romano, Mohamed Salah has rejected the proposal of a new contract from Liverpool back in December, and the negotiations have been at a standstill since. Apparently, the Egyptian would prefer to stay at Anfield for years to come, but not under the terms currently on offer from the club.
Excl: Salah and his agent have no intention to accept current new contract bid from Liverpool. Talks have broken down since December, as things stand #LFC
Mo’s priority is to stay – but not at current conditions. Let’s see Liverpool next move.
More: https://t.co/QGTdcXpa79 pic.twitter.com/2cAY6KmmkV
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 11, 2022
Widely considered one of the best players on the planet, Salah and his agent obviously believe he deserves to be paid accordingly, in the same bracket as the top earners in the game. On the other hand, Liverpool are believed to have offered a significant improvement on his current wages, but they aren’t prepared to break the bank and their whole wage structure so they could keep hold of a player who turns 30 this year, for three or four years more.
Salah’s current deal expires in the summer of 2023, but if the current standoff continues past the end of this season, Liverpool will likely be open to offers for the player who currently tops the Premier League scoring chart with 20 goals.
Asked about the situation in his press conference ahead of the 0-2 triumph away to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said there was nothing more the club could do and placed the ball in Salah’s court. Minutes later, Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas Issa posted a cryptic tweet on Twitter, consisting of several “rolling with laughter” e-mojis.
— Ramy Abbas Issa (@RamyCol) March 11, 2022
Having scored the second goal from the spot in the 61st minute, Salah left the pitch injured four minutes later.
“We will see,” Klopp told BT Sport after the match.
“He thinks it’s not serious but you can see when Mo Salah is sitting down then something is not 100 per cent right. I think it was the situation before when he hit the ball and got blocked – he wanted to shoot and got blocked and I think the foot got slightly overstretched. We have to see.”
Most Liverpool supporters adore Mo Salah, but they strongly disapprove of what they see as a message loaded with disrespect towards Klopp, the man they believe has made Salah into a world-class player.
In all competitions, Salah has scored 153 goals and produced 57 assists in 238 matches since joining Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017. His current contract was signed in the summer of 2018, just after he broke the Premier League record for most goals in a 38-game season with 32 strikes.
But as things stand at the moment, Mo Salah may truly leave Liverpool this summer. The club have already started preparing for all eventualities and signed Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz to strengthen their attacking ranks, and they’ll surely bring in one player more if Salah does leave.
