Briefly, there seemed another. Jurgen Klopp picked a quiet Friday morning, the day before an FA Cup tie against Norwich, to announce a departure none had envisaged. Mohamed Salah waited for a 3-0 demolition of Manchester United, a game when he made two goals before scoring one himself, to declare: “It’s my last year in the club.”
But Salah had not picked Old Trafford to deliver explosive notice of his exit. He meant the last year of his contract. They could be one and the same, though. “Nobody in the club has talked to me about contracts,” said Salah. But they have talked to a right winger about one; just not him, but Federico Chiesa, who has signed on for four years. One possibility is that Liverpool already have a successor in the building.
A theory, though, is that Salah is the best right winger in their history, or the Premier League’s; even as Erling Haaland has usurped him as the outstanding goalscorer in the division now, Salah spent the first half of last season as arguably the finest allround attacker. He seems to have assumed that status again now: a trio of games have brought three goals and three assists. Salah set up Luis Diaz for a brace, scored with expert precision and tormented Diogo Dalot, making him look a makeshift leftback.
Denne historien er fra September 04, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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Denne historien er fra September 04, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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