Mohamed Salah appears to have put pressure on Liverpool to offer him a new contract, insisting “nobody in the club talked to me yet” about an extension.
Salah made it three goals and three assists in three games so far this season by finding the back of the net once and teeing up team-mates twice in Sunday’s 3-0 win at Man United.
It served yet another reminder that the Egyptian has been allowed to enter the final year of his contract with little talk of a new deal yet.
In fact, speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Salah claimed that he was yet to be approached over a possible extension by any officials at Liverpool.
“Honestly, I had a good summer, I had a long time to stay with myself and try to think positive, because as you know it’s my last year in the club,” he said.
“Nobody in the club talked to me yet”
“I just want to enjoy it and I don’t want to think about it, I feel I’m free to play football and we’ll see what’s going to happen next year.”
Salah, who has scored 10 goals in his last seven games at Old Trafford, added: “To be fair, I was coming to the game and I said ‘it could be the last time’.
“Nobody in the club talked to me yet about contracts, so I’ve said ‘OK, I’ll play my last season and in the end we’ll see’.”
Urged by Daniel Sturridge to stay at Anfield beyond the end of the season, Salah laid the pressure on the club to sort the situation out.
“It’s not up to me, nobody talked to me from the club, but we’ll see,” he said.
Salah even suggested it may not be his last visit to Old Trafford as a player – even if it was his last representing Liverpool.
That Liverpool have allowed not only Salah but also Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold to slip into the final months of their contracts is a symptom of the reshuffle that took place over the last year.
But if this wasn’t simply a power play from the No. 11 after another performance that will strengthen his hand in talks, it is negligent that the new powers-that-be are yet to discuss a new deal.
With neither Salah nor Van Dijk showing signs of slowing down and Alexander-Arnold yet to even reach his peak, all three players should be tied down for the long term – as soon as possible.
