The subject of Mo Salah’s Liverpool future and the ongoing contract impasse is a well-trodden landscape, to say the least.
Yet, there remains no shortage of commentators prepared to drop their two cents, with former Barcelona and Brazil legend, Ronaldinho, the latest to opine on the matter.
“Any advice to Salah regarding his future? The most important thing is for him to be happy, football is a source of happiness and it must be no matter what club he plays for in the future,” the 42-year-old was quoted as saying by the Daily Star. “He has to keep playing football in a way that makes him happy because there’s nothing better than playing football.”
The question of how we define the boundaries of happiness in football, specifically with regard to the Egyptian international’s future, remains, as of yet, unanswered.
Is it down to money? The length of the contract on the table? The staffing at the particular club? The level of ambition shown in the transfer market? The right climate?
For months, many were led to believe that the 29-year-old’s wage demands were holding both parties back from reaching an agreement and extending the stay of one of the club’s most prolific and popular players.
£500,000-per-week was a figure thrown about as lightly as if it were a few loose coppers jangling, unforgotten, in the dark depths of one’s coat pocket.
That claim has since been heavily disputed, not least of all by the player himself, with Salah noting that other factors are at play beyond financial compensation.
“I think the fans know what I want, but in the contract, it’s not everything about the money at all,” the No.11 told Four Four Two (via The Athletic). “So I don’t know, I can’t tell you exactly. I have one year left and the fans know what I want.”
Barring, perhaps, the climate, one might reasonably argue that the Egyptian has it all at Liverpool Football Club – a guaranteed starting slot at one of the most competitive sides in Europe, the adoration of the fanbase and a top-two (if not the leading) manager in world football.
It would be massively unfair to heap all the pressure in discussions on the attacker’s shoulders, of course, as our recruitment team, soon to be led by Michael Edwards’ understudy, Julian Ward, has to reach a verdict on his longevity in the game.
If the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi are anything to go by – two players of a similar mould to Mo Salah, as far as his dedication to conditioning is concerned – we’ve got little to worry about in that area.
The club, of course, will want guarantees, and perhaps a three-year deal remains sitting, untouched, on the table with an option of a further year or two attached.
Such guarantees are hardly monopolised by the clubs and it would be foolish to presume that the former Chelsea man won’t desire the best deal he can possibly get, especially given that his next one is likely to be his most lucrative yet.
For Salah, though, as has been established, it’s not about the money.
If it’s about the longevity of his contract, however, as many suspect, and Liverpool are prepared to reach a compromise on the matter, there’s simply nowhere else in world football that could offer the right-winger greater happiness.
If the stars align after the Champions League final, when discussions are set to resume between both parties, Salah would be well-advised to heed Ronaldinho’s advice.