Mohamed Salah Puts Liverpool Owners On Notice Over Contract Situation
Today at 08:34 AM
A failure to sign Mohamed Salah to a new deal would represent a monumental—and for many unforgivable—own goal by the new regime.
Liverpool's first crisis following the departure of Jürgen Klopp and the return of Michael Edwards as the man with the final say in guiding the club into a new era comes not on the pitch but off it.
Having failed to make progress on contracts for three their top players, including superstar Mohamed Salah, the club are running out of time to resolve things. Now, in an unusual step, Salah has chosen to openly, honestly, and perhaps a little bluntly talk about the contract situation and about his growing disappointment in the club's handling of it.
"We are almost in December and I haven't received any offers," Salah began. "I'm probably more out than in. I have been in the club for many years. There is no club like this. But it is not in my hands. As I said before, it is now December and I still haven't received anything yet about my future.
"I love the fans. The fans love me. But in the end it is not in my hands or the fans' hands. Let's wait and see. I'm not going to retire soon so I'm just playing, focusing on the season, focusing on trying to win the Premier League and hopefully the Champions League as well. I'm disappointed but we will see."
Salah is reportedly on a wage of £350k per week. A new top signing might start at £150k per but would, if they were a success, quickly earn an improved deal. The difference at the start, £200k per week, is worth £10M a season.
Add in the transfer costs of making such a signing and, beyond any sentiment surrounding Salah's role and legacy as one of the club's best players of all time, the idea that it would be more financially sensible to sign a replacement than to re-sign him begins to seem risible.
The return of Michael Edwards in a newly created chief executive of football role saw him quickly appoint head coach Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes, with Slot so far an unqualified success. There's little in Hughes' performance so far, though, anyone outside the club could identify and call a success.
To date, Hughes' record reads three unresolved contracts and an uninspiring summer transfer window. Having been strung along by Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi, a player intended as the marquee signing at the position Slot had identified as his top need, the club in the end only made a single signing.
That signing, Federico Chiesa, has struggled for fitness, playing just 78 total minutes so far—with 59 of those coming in a single League Cup appearance. Meanwhile, the headlining contract headaches posed by Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Salah remain unresolved a month before they can sign pre-contracts elsewhere.
Anything less than resolving two—and Salah at this point probably needs to be one of them—would leave fans openly furious with Hughes, Edwards, and owners Fenway Sports Group. Anything less and the appointment of Hughes would be viewed as a colossal failure—with Edwards' return not far off that.
"Everybody can see my work ethic," Salah added when pressed on the issue. "I'm just trying to enjoy my football and I will play at the top level as long as possible. I try to give it all for myself and the club. We will see what happens next."
