Whereas Liverpool and Mo Salah each look to get the very best worth from their ongoing contract talks, the Egyptian can level to Robert Lewandowski as a first-rate instance.
Regardless of what some may say, Mohamed Salah is the very best participant within the Premier League proper now.
His eye-catching performances have been a significant catalyst for the Reds’ title cost, presently sitting two factors clear with a sport in hand.
Nevertheless it’s not what Salah can do proper now that’s up for debate.
The query for the powers that be is: what’s going to he be like in two and even three years from now? And does that justify the sort of contract he would command?
Letting Mo go
Ought to he go away this summer season, Salah can be a free agent at 32.
That’s a 12 months youthful than Luis Suarez was when Barcelona elected to not supply him a brand new contract. With the Catalans in cost-cutting mode, his longevity was known as into query – the identical query the ever-prudent FSG are asking now.
Suarez went on to hitch rivals Atletico Madrid and he immediately delivered.
Regardless of lately coming back from a knee surgical procedure that dominated him out for six months – the longest absence of his profession – he bagged 21 objectives to fireside the Atleti to their eleventh LaLiga title.
The next season, nonetheless, was much less prolific, with the then-34-year-old being hampered by accidents and scoring simply 13 objectives in all competitions.
That signalled the tip of his profession on the elite degree, with spells at Internacional and Gremio following, and he’s now taking part in the hits together with his former Barca teammates at Inter Miami.
Suarez has missed only a few video games on account of harm, even since 2020, however his dedication to taking part in by means of the ache seems to have caught as much as him lately.
He has been reportedly considering retirement since 2022 and is on file as being in “fixed ache” on account of suspected osteoarthritis in his knee, which makes coaching and taking part in at his most depth inconceivable.
El Pistolero had his first main surgical procedure on the identical age that Salah is presently, displaying that the ever-presence that characterises each gamers can take its toll afterward.
Whereas the preliminary season after his departure was a painful one for Barcelona, it’s onerous to argue that they need to have re-signed him in hindsight.
Give Mo his dough
Talking of Barcelona, their present No. 9 can be one to think about.
Robert Lewandowski was getting into the ultimate 12 months of his contract again in 2019 and had simply secured one other Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich – scoring 40 objectives in all competitions.
Turning 32 throughout negotiations, the primary man of Munich posed a tough query to the Bayern hierarchy. In the long run, they provided him a four-year contract – and it proved to be a masterstroke.
He proceeded to attain an obscene 55 objectives in all competitions in 2019/20, successful the treble for Bayern within the course of. The cancellation of that 12 months’s Ballon d’Or constituted daylight theft.
The next two seasons introduced extra scoring information and one other two league titles, earlier than he as soon as once more entered the ultimate 12 months of his contract.
This time, the 34-year-old was offered for a wholesome charge to Barcelona, the place he was prime scorer and gained the title in his first season.
Now 36, Lewandowski is in his third season at Camp Nou and has already surpassed the 20-goal mark.
Much like Salah, Lewandowski has a fame for supreme dedication to his health and restoration.
It reveals in his unbelievable harm file, lacking simply 23 video games on medical grounds within the 5 years since signing that renewal at Bayern.
His most vital harm was ‘ligament stretching’ in March 2021, which saved him out for seven video games for membership and nation.
Ought to Mo keep or go?
If we glance deeper at these two circumstances, the parallels between Salah and Lewandowski develop into clearer.
The present Barca man was a comparatively late bloomer to elite-level soccer, transferring to the Bundesliga on the age of twenty-two from the Polish Superliga.
That’s the identical age Salah was when he debuted for Chelsea in 2014.
Lewandowski’s nationwide staff of Poland can be one of many smaller nations on the world stage, ceaselessly exiting competitions within the group stage – thereby lightening Lewandowski’s total workload.
His 155 profession appearances for Poland (to date) add as much as lower than 12,000 minutes of sport time.
Likewise, Salah is the talisman for a much less profitable worldwide facet. He’s performed 101 instances to date for Egypt, racking up simply wanting 9,000 minutes.
They’ve certified for only one World Cup in that point, although they’ve gone deep on the Africa Cup of Nations.
Each gamers have additionally notably tailored themselves to each their age and the sport round them.
Lewandowski broke scoring information as a single-minded finisher, however in his latter years in Germany he embraced a extra collective ethic.
Since reuniting with treble-winning coach Hansi Flick at Barcelona, he’s additionally altered his work out of possession.
Whereas Barca nonetheless press excessive, he principally operates as a shadow marker, blocking passing lanes to the pivot gamers behind him whereas permitting his teammates to do the onerous yards of closing gamers down.
It’s allowed him to be simply as efficient, whereas minimising his limitations.
Salah, equally, has taken on the position of chief creator in Liverpool’s assault since turning 30.
He now depends much less on pure tempo and extra on his vary of passing to orchestrate assaults and feed his teammates, whereas nonetheless rising to the largest moments himself when wanted.
Whereas Sky Sports activities lately famous his variety of pressures per sport have decreased because the arrival of Arne Slot, the brand new coach’s model of play is much less in regards to the excessive press.
The brand new defensive construction is extra about denying transitions and remaining compact, with the extraordinary sprints reserved for flying forwards in assault.
Why can’t Salah do the identical?
It may be tempting to border Salah’s excellence this season as a message to the possession relating to his new contract.
However the extra possible purpose is that, on this staff, with this coach, Salah is completely set as much as succeed – for nonetheless lengthy he’s right here.
Predicting an impression harm or a decline in confidence for a participant is inconceivable.
But when the query is ‘how can we make sure that a participant will keep elite into his late 30s?’, simply have a look at those which have. Then ask: why can’t Salah do the identical?
