Ian Wright has backed Mo Salah to sign a new contract at Liverpool if the club were to offer him an extension to his current terms.
As it stands, the Egyptian’s deal expires next summer, with the possibility of him walking away as a free agent increasing by the day, and his comments after the recent win over Manchester United had some Reds fans worried that this might indeed be his ‘last year’ on Merseyside.
However, speaking to Premier League Productions, the former Arsenal striker claimed that the 32-year-old may have his eye on setting further individual records at Anfield and that, despite coming towards the twilight of his career, he’d warrant an extended contract.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
Wright said of Salah: “I get the impression that he’d probably like to stay at Liverpool and break records. Let’s say he stays for three years and even if he dropped off in the last year, that’s 10 years of unbelievable service.
“I believe he will probably stay if Liverpool [offer him a new deal]. I know people get very nervy around giving players contracts in their 30s, but I think he’s an exception in the way that he prepares himself and in the way that he plays.”
READ MORE: John Barnes pays Liverpool maestro a huge compliment with comparison to AC Milan legend
Football Insider‘s Pete O’Rourke has claimed that Liverpool are doing ‘everything they can’ behind the scenes to try and keep Salah at the club and that all parties involved are keen to reach an agreement sooner rather than later, something that we very much hope is the case.
The manner in which he’s started the season (three goals in as many games) shows that the Egyptian’s scoring powers aren’t waning and that he could easily surpass the 20-goal mark, which’d take him above Frank Lampard to sixth on the all-time Premier League list.
Forty more would bring him to 200, a number reached by only three players in the division’s history, and that’s not an outlandish target were he to even stay on for an extra couple of years beyond his current contract expiry.
We firmly agree with Wright regarding Salah being a justifiable exception to the unwritten rule of avoiding lengthy extensions for players who are in their 30s, with our legendary number 11 still banging in the goals and setting the standards in pre-season just as James Milner customarily did in his Anfield days.
In our opinion, the Egyptian King is simply too regal to be shoved off his throne in the next 12 months. He’s still finding the net with a consistency we’ve very rarely seen at Liverpool, even among some of the outstanding forwards who’ve played for the Reds over the decades.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions