Mo Salah is said to be demanding €20m a year to keep him with Liverpool beyond the 2023 expiration date of his current contract.
This comes from El Nacional, with it being noted that Pep Guardiola’s outfit could be a potential destination for the Egyptian international should fresh terms not be agreed.
Though some will argue the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, the reality of the situation is that Reds fans will want to avoid a scenario that takes one of the squad’s best talents across the M62 and significantly strengthens their league rivals.
We doubt that, even if the option was there for Salah to take, he would seize the opportunity with both hands.
A move abroad would be far more likely than to a near rival, though, ideally, it’s an eventuality we’d be keen for the club to avoid, particularly given how the 29-year-old continues to justify his importance to the side.
Whilst we can understand the financial risks involved with handing a near-30-year-old a long-term contract, it seems a gamble with more risk weighing down the side where we fail to extend his stay on Merseyside.
Salah is actually in a position where if he plays it smart he could make sure the next contract is NOT the last big contract of his career. If he, say for example, extends his stay by a further two years to 2025, he will get a big pay rise now and he could leave in 2024/5, either on a free or for a moderate fee and then get paid big for what would then be his final big payday.
The alternative (risk) is he moves now or next season for a big payday, but will have no prospects of getting anything beyond that as he will be over 35 before he is able to move again.
Btw, the Man City story is utter nonsense, even Mo can see the shaky ground the club is built upon, let alone the dubious characters that make up their squad.
Do you really believe that Mo is a money grabber? Sure he wants to be acknowledged as the best player around but I’m sure that money is not his motivation. However, you’ve got to remember that he is being guided buy an agent and we all know how they operate?