.png)
Mohamed Salah has "played" Liverpool after being awarded a huge new contract at Anfield, according to Gary Neville.
Salah, 30, has finally committed his long-term future to Liverpool by signing a new three-year deal after months of protracted contract negotiations.
The Egyptian has been handed a deal worth a reported £350,000 per week, making him by far the highest-paid player in the history of the club.
Salah had just one year remaining on his previous contract and there were fears that the forward could leave for free next summer.
Advert
He had stalled on signing a new deal at Anfield after Liverpool refused to agree to his reported wage demands of more than £400,000 per week, which would have brought him into line with the best paid players in the Premier League.
However, a compromise has now been reached that will see him remain at the Merseyside club until 2025.
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville believes Salah has won the negotiations after Liverpool smashed their wage structure to keep the Egyptian.
"Salah has played them hasn't he," posted Neville on Twitter.
Fans of rival clubs have agreed with Neville on social media.
Advert
One wrote: "Like a violin."
Another added: "But remember Gary they won’t break their wage structure for him", followed by the crying-laughing emoji.
Liverpool fans hit back at Neville by pointing out that United have paid several players more than Salah in recent years.
"He's making as much as [Paul] Pogba was mate," wrote one supporter.
Advert
Another added: "He's on half the wages of Cristiano [Ronaldo]."
Neville's Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool were right to bend their wage structure for Salah, who has scored 156 goals in 254 games since joining the club from Roma in 2017.
Advert
"Salah has been as good as anybody in the Premier League or anyone in European football, certainly in his position, and he'll feel he deserves to be paid as well as those. And we know the types of numbers other players get at other clubs," Carragher told Sky Sports News.
"Liverpool have never really gone to that level in terms of numbers, certainly under FSG - and I think that a lot of Liverpool fans respect that model because it has brought a lot of success to the club so they almost accept how they go about things not just with player contracts but also with signing players.
"I don't think there would have been much criticism if Salah had left. But I think now and again when you have someone as special as Salah the rule that you have to have in place you have to certainly bend them, maybe not necessarily break them but you have to maybe go closer to a position that maybe you don't want to."
Have Liverpool made the right call over Salah? Let us know your thoughts.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy & Instagram: LiverpoolFCTopics: Gary Neville, Liverpool, Mohamed Salah, Transfers, Football, Premier League
