Alan Shearer believes one of Jurgen Klopp’s key players has been far from his best for the majority of the current campaign.
Despite Mo Salah registering 24 goals and 13 assists so far this term (across all competitions), his performances in recent weeks have been a cause for concern for many.
His touchline spat with our German tactician during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with West Ham has increased scrutiny on the Egyptian King with Fabrizio Romano revealing recently that Liverpool plan to retain the services of the forward beyond the summer.
Our No.11 picked up an injury while representing Egypt at AFCON in January and we’re yet to see him return to his exhilarating best according to Shearer.
“Salah hasn’t been nowhere near what he has been in the past. It has certainly been a quiet period for him ever since he came back from the Africa Cup of Nations. He has not been anywhere near as good as he can be, has he?,” Shearer said on the Rest Is Football Podcast (via The Boot Room).
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Salah is now 31 years of age and may naturally be slowing down.
One of the key parts of his game was his blistering pace and ability to beat his man – but we’ve seen very little evidence of this in recent weeks.
Saudi Pro League sides were sniffing around the former AS Roma man last summer but he decided to remain on Merseyside and stress his future belongs at Anfield.
It remains to be seen whether there’ll be similar interest in his signature at the end of the current campaign with the winger set to enter the final 12 months of his Liverpool deal.
You’d suspect that Arne Slot would like to work alongside Salah at Liverpool for one year at least but we’ll have to wait and see what decision is made in the summer.