Mo Salah

[RedReet]

He needs to get this sorted quickly one way or the other as it seems to be affecting his performances now. And it’d be nice if he told his agent to shut the cryptic **** up too

Think that might be a bit of confirmation bias. Mo is still having one of his best seasons for us and the only thing that has changed from now and a few weeks ago is Klopp responding to a question asked by a journalist.

Maybe he put himself under more pressure this week to prove a point, or maybe he's picked up on the slight shift in fan support and wanted to remind everyone how good he is, but I don't believe it had much impact on previous games.

[Doc_Piptorious]

It boils down to whether or not he wants to be in with a chance of silverware whilst getting really big wages or whether he wants the biggest wages whilst having the chance of silverware.



We can offer him the former.


If wages are the be all for him then we cannot match PSG, City, Newcastle (they no doubt make the list for the wage part if they stay up), Real and maybe the red Mancs when it comes to the really huge wages and "ambassadorial" perks. Only three of that five come with the realistic chance of major silverware, mostly at domestic level for two of that three.


If he wants out then it is on him to say so and throw in a transfer request or say that he intends to see out his contract and leave at the end of it.

If we get to the summer and there is still humming and hahing going on, then we listen to offers and only sell if the money is really big, otherwise he can spend another year waiting for his big wage top up and he can gamble on there not being another pandemic event or war event by then that suddenly makes his big wage option unfeasible.

He is a world class footballer, best attacking player in the world imo, he has been a great ambassador for the club on and off of the pitch, we have seen his best on a regular basis and I would love for him to stay with us until the end of his career, but if he decides he wants to go, then we use him to raise enough funds to bring two starters into the first team.

Cannot think of any one player we could get that would be good enough to outright replace him, he is that good, but if we brought in two players good enough to get into our starting XI, then we might not have any one player as good as Salah, but the starting XI may be stronger than it is now.

Hypothetically take Salah out of our current best starting XI and replace him with say Barella and one from Bowen or Raphinha, does that make our starting XI stronger than it is now with Salah?

Or do a mix and match with other names like Nkunku, Antony, Tchouameni or Bellingham and pick one midfielder and one attacker coming in with Salah going out and does that make our best XI stronger than now?

[Mark79]

[ame]https://twitter.com/jamespearcelfc/status/1503363801067962369[/ame]

[Pablo]

If someone could post that article that'd be great.

As for his agent and his childish use of social media, it's very annoying and helps no one.

[BigChief]

Would a Diaz, Mane/Jota, Raphina forward line keep us winning regularly? Under Klopp you'd imagine so. Obviously we'd miss Mo's goals but I won't lie that Raphina and Diaz would also excite me from both wings. Both have the potential to replace Mo's shots/goals tally as a pairing if not individually.

[Buzzo]

Salah stand-off over new deal is about money, respect and recognition

By James Pearce

Mohamed Salah has so much that he wants.

He’s adored by the Liverpool supporters who chant his name so vociferously. He has an elite manager in Jurgen Klopp who has helped take his game to the next level.

He’s surrounded by world-class talent in a team challenging for glory on all fronts. He’s playing for a club with serious long-term ambition — underlined by the £50 million January swoop for the outstanding Luis Diaz.

But in Salah’s eyes, there’s something missing. What he doesn’t have is a contract representative of his status as one of the greatest players on the planet.

The ongoing stand-off over a new deal isn’t about him feeling tempted to embark on a fresh challenge or experience life elsewhere. The 29-year-old hasn’t had his head turned by a rival. This is about money, respect and recognition.

The Egyptian has repeatedly stated that he wants to stay at Anfield beyond the summer of 2023 and that remains the case. As good as he’s been for Liverpool, he acknowledges that they have also provided the perfect team structure and environment for him to flourish. He’s settled in Cheshire with his wife, Magi, and daughters, Makka and Kayan.

However, the contract saga has dragged on throughout this season because there’s a significant difference between what Liverpool are willing to pay him and what Salah believes he’s worth. All parties have so far remained tight-lipped about the figures involved, with the 29-year-old recently insisting he isn’t asking for “crazy stuff”. He earns around £200,000 per week. For context, Jack Grealish is understood to be on £300,000 per week at Manchester City.

“It’s Mo’s decision. The club did what it can do. It’s fine from my point of view. Nothing happened further, no signing, no rejection. We just have to wait,” Klopp told reporters at Kirkby on Friday.

An hour later, Salah’s advisor Ramy Abbas Issa tweeted seven crying laughing emojis in an apparent response to the manager’s words. It wasn’t the first time he’s created unhelpful headlines for his client this season. Most agents Liverpool deal with prefer to keep a low profile and relay their thoughts privately.

“I hope they’re watching,” was Abbas’ very public message to the club’s owners after Salah lit up the opening-weekend victory over Norwich City last August. They were and Fenway Sports Group are still determined to retain Salah’s services, but not at any price. They are prepared to make Salah the highest-paid player in the club’s history but they won’t completely demolish a wage structure that has served Liverpool so well. Salah is in the top bracket with Virgil van Dijk and Thiago.

It’s a topic that continues to polarise supporter opinion, from “just pay him whatever he wants” to “no one is bigger than the club”.

Salah’s importance to Liverpool is immense. He has rewritten the record books since his £43.9 million move from Roma in 2017. His consistency has been breathtaking.

With 153 goals in 238 games, he has climbed to ninth in the list of the club’s all-time top scorers. He’s only five behind Michael Owen and 19 adrift of Sir Kenny Dalglish. Only Steven Gerrard (120 goals, 92 assists) has had a direct hand in more Premier League goals for Liverpool than Salah (115 goals, 43 assists).

At Brighton on Saturday, he joined an elite club. Alan Shearer, Sergio Aguero, Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Harry Kane are the only other players in the Premier League era to have scored 20 or more league goals in four different seasons. The only year Salah fell short of that milestone for Liverpool, he netted 19.

If he had fired blanks for a fourth successive game at the Amex Stadium it would have represented his worst drought for 12 months — a sign of the ridiculously high standards he has set — but he banished his frustration with the thumping spot kick that secured an eighth successive league win for Klopp’s title-chasing side.

Pain in his foot meant he was substituted soon after and before heading down the tunnel, he gave his shirt to an appreciative Brighton fan. “I love you Salah,” was the booming response.

“Mo overstretched his foot slightly,” revealed Klopp. “He thinks it will be fine but we need further assessment for sure.”

With an average of a touch over 50 games a season for Liverpool, Salah can also count durability among his great qualities. A week when Robert Lewandowski, 33, and Karim Benzema, 34, lit up the Champions League with hat-tricks should also provide food for thought for Liverpool’s owners.

Salah, who turns 30 in June, is showing no signs of slowing down. Deciding a year ago that it wasn’t worth committing the vast sums of cash required to satisfy Georginio Wijnaldum’s demands and keep him at Liverpool until the age of 34 or 35 was understandable. Klopp’s men have kicked on without the Dutchman, who has found that the grass isn’t greener in Paris. But Salah is a very different case. Trying to replace his output would be almost impossible.

Klopp insisted on Friday there’s “no rush” with the contract negotiations but the clock is ticking. If the impasse continues beyond May then the alarm bells will start ringing and Liverpool will have a big decision to make. He’s a £100 million footballer. If they can’t break the deadlock then they will either have to consider offers for Salah this summer or accept the growing reality of losing him for nothing in 2023.

Salah doesn’t have an array of options. If, as expected, Kylian Mbappe joins Real Madrid, then Paris Saint-Germain might target Salah as a replacement. They could certainly afford his salary but would life in Ligue 1 really appeal? In the French capital, he certainly wouldn’t be the main man. Barcelona have shown interest in him previously but they have financial problems.

Liverpool would never sell Salah to a Premier League rival. Of course, there’s the unpalatable scenario where he decides to join one of them on a free transfer in 2023 but that would wreck his Anfield legacy. Would he really jeopardise that?

As special as Salah is, this isn’t a one-man team. The scintillating impact of Diaz, who deservedly clinched the man of the match award at Brighton, points to the future of Klopp’s evolving front line. The Colombian, who bravely nodded home the opener, has given Liverpool’s attack a new dimension. When Klopp brought off Salah, he replaced the Premier League’s top scorer with the joint-second top scorer in Diogo Jota. That’s some position of strength.

What Liverpool don’t need in this title challenge is any sideshows, any unwanted distractions. All parties need to reassess and try to reach some common ground. Liverpool and Salah have been a match made in heaven. It’s in the interests of both the club and the player for that union to continue beyond the end of next season.

(

[Paul12]

Sounds like increasingly entrenched positions. Liverpool must not pay more than they can afford, but Salah's agent won't want to be seen as 'losing' the battle against Liverpool. If that article is true and Mo really loves being with us, maybe there is some gesture we could make that would enable all parties to 'claim victory' even though the currecnt offer is not in substance improved.

[baitman]

Put him up for 200m, cash up front, no ****ty payment plan. He will love it in newcastle.

[Assassin]

The Cuntmuppet of an agent isnt helping things…..

[Norbs]

For context Jack Grealish is paid with cheating money

[Deano]

Sounds like increasingly entrenched positions. Liverpool must not pay more than they can afford, but Salah's agent won't want to be seen as 'losing' the battle against Liverpool. If that article is true and Mo really loves being with us, maybe there is some gesture we could make that would enable all parties to 'claim victory' even though the currecnt offer is not in substance improved.

FWIW, he doesn't have an agent, Abbas is his lawyer and advisor, This is Mo who is making decisions, not Abbas, This said Abbas reactions on twitter are childish and mean too provoke. Lets see what happens, as Mo has never rebuked Abbas !

[Fredo]

He’ll got to City.

[Buzzo]

That article points out all of the reasons why I think he will stay.

[Buzzo]

He’ll got to City.

[Fredo]

It won’t surprise me if it’s about money and he does that. We’ve had similar situations before. This is also why I’m a bit blasé concerning footballers and their allegiance, nothing surprises me anymore and everything is about money.