Noel Whelan has urged Liverpool to not allow themselves to be held to ransom by Mo Salah over a potential contract extension.
According to one of the publication’s club sources, the No.11 is looking for a wage bump up to £500,000-a-week to make him one of the most well-paid footballers in the Premier League.
“£500,000-a-week would make him one of the highest-paid players in the world,” the ex-Leeds United man told Football Insider.
“Now as much as you want to keep your star players – and he is the star at Liverpool – you’ve got to be sensible.
“You need to draw a line in the sand, and weigh everything up. Because paying out that sort of money could really hamstring Liverpool and even prevent them from strengthening in the transfer window.
“As much as it might disappoint Liverpool fans, he can’t be allowed to hold Liverpool to ransom. That’s a staggering amount of money.
“It could mean keeping Salah – but buying no-one else. It would smash that wage structure, and that’s where you don’t want to be.”
With the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish understood to be on £400,000-a-week and £300,00-a-week, such a wage boost would reflect the Egyptian’s status as the leading talent (in the eyes of many) in the English top-flight.
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We’d have to seriously question the veracity of the claim made, given that the £500,000-a-week figure has been previously disputed.
Though we’d be inclined to argue that Salah’s performances more than warrant an increase in compensation, the stark reality of the situation is that the club will simply not be prepared to entertain such demands.
Evidently, of course, both club and player are at odds when it comes to negotiations given that the former Chelsea hitman outright rejected our initial proposal in December, if reports are to be believed.
With his superb levels of conditioning likely set to allow the 29-year-old to keep up his high levels of performance well into his 30s, of course, it would be a massive shame to lose out on such a talent in the summer of 2023.
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