Liverpool have found their replacement for the potentially departing Sadio Mané in the form of Darwin Núñez, and next on the agenda is to hand Mo Salah a new contract.
Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah has just 12 months left on his current deal at Liverpool. According to the Liverpool Echo, the Reds are looking to extend his deal, but money has been the key issue in talks between the player and club.
Salah, understandably, wants to be one of the best paid players in the Premier League. He has recently received the PFA Player of the Year award for the 2021/22 season, consolidating his position as one of the division’s very best players.
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As such, the 'Egyptian King' would like a salary which reflects his elite qualities. However, this does pose some problems to Liverpool.
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Firstly, Liverpool tend to stick to a tight wage structure, which would be disrupted were they to hand Salah a new deal. Furthermore, Salah turned 30 yesterday, and his performance will likely begin to decline over the next few seasons.
Giving a bumper deal to an ageing player is a notoriously bad move in football. Just ask Arsenal fans. The likes of Mesut Özil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang received huge new deals in north London as they were entering their thirties, and their performance levels dipped thereafter.
Liverpool fans will argue Salah isn’t that sort of player. Granted, he has been brilliantly successful during his time at Anfield. He’s yet to go through a Liverpool season without scoring at least 30 goals in all competitions.
Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean a significant decline in performance is outside the realms of possibility now he’s the wrong side of 30.
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With Sadio Mané set to join Bayern Munich this summer, Liverpool would be wise to hold onto Salah. New recruit Darwin Núñez won’t initially guarantee goals and Salah could offer the 22-year-old valuable advice during his early weeks at the club.
Extending Salah’s contract is also an important task for Liverpool.
That said, if his wage demands are as excessive as some reports have suggested, the Liverpool board should think carefully about satisfying his wishes.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Liverpool Transfer News & Rumours, Darwin Nunez, Premier League