Mohamed Salah‘s decision over whether to stay or leave Liverpool at the end of his contract could have hinged on his belief in a new head coach in Arne Slot.
With Slot, largely unproven despite his success at Feyenoord, taking over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer, it could have been a defining point for Liverpool’s key players.
The likes of Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold will have looked to size up the club’s situation after a change in the dugout before making any decision over their futures.
And while none of those three players have committed beyond the end of the season at this stage, Slot has surely made a convincing impact.
Salah’s agent has underlined that with a telling update on X, responding to a post highlighting Liverpool’s position seven points clear at the top of the Premier League by writing: “Excellent at his job.”
Ramy Abbas Issa – and Salah himself for that matter – has been known to use social media as a cryptic tool in response to rumours regarding his client in the past.
Though this is far from an emphatic statement over the Egyptian’s future, it highlights how happy he is working under Slot at Liverpool.
Hopefully the club can capitalise on this as they seek to reach an agreement with Salah over a new deal, though his last update on the situation – coming last month – insisted that, as it stands, “it’s my last year in the club.”
“There is nothing, no progress there, we’re far away from any progress. We just need to wait and see,” he told Sky Sports.
The understanding is that Salah and Liverpool could be far apart in terms of either the length of his next contract or the wages he would earn, or both.
He is already the club’s best-paid player, earning a basic £350,000 per week, and turning 33 in June it stands to reason that Fenway Sports Group may be reluctant to agree similar or even higher terms due to his age.
But Salah’s performances this season, with 27 goals and 19 assists in 35 so far, have made a mockery of any claim he is on the decline.
Liverpool are in a remarkable position in employing one of the best players in the world who has made a seamless transition from one coach to the next and is desperate to stay beyond his current contract.
It is a no brainer to tie Salah down for the long term, as is the case for both Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold.
