Mo' money, mo' goals - why Salah is worth the gamble

As clear and emphatic as Mohamed Salah’s words on Sunday were, something was still left unsaid.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

The lack of an offer doesn’t mean the lack of talks. And that is where there is much more nuance and uncertainty than in the simple words: “I haven’t received an offer.”

Those within Liverpool insist that contact with the player’s agent is ongoing and has been positive. Some close to the situation similarly interpret Salah’s words, and the timing, as trying to force the club’s hand.

Salah does not yet want to go to a competition like the Saudi Pro League, and didn’t want to in the summer of 2023, either. It was he who turned down a move then. He wants to stay at the top level and win the biggest trophies, and feels he is still at the top of the game.

There is similarly a feeling that Salah was understandably buoyed by scoring twice in yet another match where he was the decisive player, so he was led by his emotions. If anyone is entitled to say what he thinks though, it is one who has been Liverpool’s outstanding talent for seven years.

And yet that is also where there is a genuinely difficult judgment call. The big question, that Liverpool have to figure out by obligation of due diligence, is how long this level can continue.

Salah shows no signs of slowing down. You only have to look at the muscle definition that he regularly reveals by taking his top off when celebrating wins. He is in supreme physical condition. The suggestions have long been that this is a player who can play at an elite level until he is well past 35, maybe even close to 40.

But that isn’t guaranteed and, statistically, becomes less likely with every year into a player’s thirties.