Mo Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, has been something of a troublemaker on social media and beyond.
With Liverpool reportedly in talks with the Egyptian international to get him on fresh terms at the club, the player’s representative is said to be complicating the process somewhat by demanding an amount in excess of £400k-per-week for his client, as reported by Paul Joyce in The Times.
Given that the No.11 recently told Sky Sports that it was his intention to remain in Merseyside for the rest of his footballing career, it’s likely that the impasse could be resolved in the near future.
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There’s a sense of growing discontent coming from Jurgen Klopp as the weeks roll by and reporters repeatedly fire questions about the former Mainz boss regarding his star attacker’s future.
If one were to ask most Liverpool fans, the solution to the problem is clear: the former Roma hitman has more than earned the right to have his current contract’s expiration date extended well beyond 2023.
It’s a thought process the Reds’ boss would appear to concur with given his own comments praising Salah for his professionalism and dedication to improving himself.
It’s a level of dedication that could, as some imagine, allow the forward to mirror the likes of Leo Messi (34) and Cristiano Ronaldo (36) in defying the average point of decline for attacking players.
Certainly, come Sunday, we’ll get an active demonstration of how sound conditioning can sustain a footballer’s level of performance in the form of the Portuguese international – a fixture fans could roll the dice on themselves courtesy of the odds available on the powerplay website.
There is a risk, of course – to defend the club hierarchy’s point of view – with a big-money contract; a gamble that we can ill afford to fall on the wrong side of should injury or a drop-off in performance affect the 29-year-old’s general output.
That having been said, the club’s owners will undoubtedly want to avoid a situation where Salah is forced to depart Liverpool against his own wishes and continues to deliver at the highest-level at another outfit prepared to pay his wages.
As far as we’re concerned here at the Empire of the Kop, it would pose far more of a risk letting the Egyptian’s contract run out in two years’ time.
Portuguese international, what?