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BREAKING: Mohamed Salah is sending Liverpool a clear transfer message as contract stance emerges

Mohamed Salah is entering the final year of his contract at Liverpool after seemingly committing his future to the club for next season.

Mohamed Salah and Liverpool could be forgiven for feeling a sense of deja vu as the Egyptian enters the final year of his contract.

 

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It was only two years when the Reds ended months of speculation after months of negotiations to secure the forward’s future. Signing a three-year extension, the club made Salah the best-paid player in its history. Said to be worth roughly £350,000 a week, such a deal was heavily incentivised with goal and assist bonuses taking that total closer to the £400,000 mark.

 

Since signing such an extension when holidaying in Mykonos, Salah has returned 55 goals and 29 assists from 95 appearances. Despite struggling for form during the second half of the 2023/24 season after battling a hamstring injury, it’s safe to say the club has got its money-worth from the 31-year-old.

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But now Liverpool are in the same familiar position as Salah again enters the final year of his contract, left to weigh up their options regarding negotiating another possible extension. And big-money interest from Saudi Arabia again complicates matters.

 

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Al-Ittihad had a verbal £150m offer for the Egypt captain rejected last summer, with Saudi Pro League sides expected to sniff around again should they be given any hint of encouragement that he might look to move on.

 

However, last week Salah seemingly committed his future to the Reds for another season, taking to social media just hours after Arne Slot was confirmed as the club’s new head coach.

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“We know that trophies are what count and we will do everything possible to make that happen next season,” Salah wrote. “Our fans deserve it and we will fight like hell.”

 

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Consequently, it would later be claimed in The Telegraph that Saudi Pro League were now willing to wait another season to attempt to lure Salah away on a free transfer in 2025. And in an interview with the same media outlet, published on Tuesday, Michael Emenalo, the Saudi Pro League’s chief football executive, would reiterate interest in Liverpool’s Egyptian King.

 

Given Salah will turn 32 next month, and missed two months of the current campaign because of injury, there would be some that argue it would make sense for the Reds to sell this summer while they can still command a fee. After all, Saudi interest has changed the market, with ageing stars with expiring deals still able to be sold for considerable profit.

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Yet given Salah’s remarkable consistency during his seven years at Anfield, returning 211 goals and 87 assists while winning every major honour across 349 appearances, the counter-argument would be that it is too early to cash in and that he could be worthy of another contract extension.

 

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Despite not living up to his usual high standards during the second half of last season for mitigating circumstances, Salah does remain Liverpool’s star player and deadliest forward.

 

His form during the opening months of the new season will either strengthen or weaken such a claim, as the club debate what to do regarding its most high-profile star. In the meantime, Salah starts to navigate the final year of his contract and continues to close in on a possible Bosman exit in 2025 as the Saudi Pro League lies in wait – ready to test the resolve of the player, if not club.

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So what makes the best business sense to Liverpool? While a lucrative offer this summer could be tempting, would Salah’s efforts in the Premier League and Champions League in 2024/25 be worth more – even if then he ended up departing for nothing?

 

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Meanwhile, could he maintain his high levels long enough to justify another lucrative contract extension? Salah would argue yes, boasting the greatest self-confidence – as demonstrated by his last incentivised extension as he backed himself to repeat his level of the previous five years in the first place. But it would be down to the Reds’ data boffins to make up their own minds accordingly.

 

For what it’s worth, the majority of Jurgen Klopp’s modern Liverpool legends who won both the Premier League and Champions League have already left the club. While you could argue that some stayed at Anfield too long, there has been no regret or suggestion that any departed too early.

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When Salah extended his most recent contract until 2025, club bosses believed such an expiry still fell within the former Chelsea man’s ‘peak years’. Such a stance would suggest that the Reds were not anticipating a decline just yet, and another extension is possible.

 

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Salah’s own stance in 2022 was that he had no interest in being sold. It was understood at the time that he had made it clear he would either renew his contract, which was his preference, or leave on a free transfer.

 

Given his latest social media admission, seemingly pledging his future to Liverpool for another season, such a stance appears unchanged. If so, with a summer exit ruled out, it would appear that Salah either leaves for free in 2025 or signs another extension.

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He will back himself to continue to repeat his highest of levels going forward no doubt, into 2025 and beyond, hungry to prove that the underwhelming end of his recent campaign was just a blip.

 

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But with a question mark still hanging over Salah’s head when it comes to his longer-term future, the decisive question remains, do Liverpool?

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