Mo’s mural opposite The King Harry - Work in progress
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We all know what happened the last time Barcelona were determined to get one of our players.
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They want Mbappe
They want Haaland
They want to bring back Messi
They want Salah
Marketing gag to make them look financially relevant.
They are not!!!
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Barca are clearly hoping that Edwards leaving will aide them in getting one of our lads.
If Barca drop 150-200m fine. Lets hope Ward is up to the task.
Lewandowski as well, that was their big transfer rumour of the week.
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Plenty to think about in this Guardian article, particularly for Mo to think about if he were to read it.
Personally, I’m beginning to think that if Mo really wants the mega salary, then maybe we should screw PSG for all their worth and use the money to strengthen the team / squad.
After all, that worked well enough when we sold Coutinho.
To be clear, I want him to sign the contract and stay. But if he wants the money that’s on offer from other clubs, then OK. He wouldn’t be the first superstar to leave. We would survive, and if it were to play out like the Coutinho deal, then maybe we would thrive even though that’s difficult to imagine at the moment.
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@legalalien I think I’ve landed on the same conclusion. I’ve been very back and forth, mostly leaning towards thinking the club should go quite far to get it done.
However, the more I think about it now the more I’m starting to lean the other way. I fear a huge wage rise for Salah could make things escalate, and maybe raise the overall wage levels to a not so sustainable level.
Salah could do a Lewandowski and continue to be amazing into his mid 30s. Is it worth breaking through the ceiling for that? Maybe it is, I really don’t know. But right now I feel the right move is to stay firm and leave it to him. Go as far as they can within reason, and if that’s not enough for him then so be it.
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I also think this. Would love him to stay, but the ‘give him what he wants’ crowd would be the first to complain if things got out of hand in the rest of the squad.
I think what Salah perhaps needs to appreciate is that Liverpool is a perfect platform for him. Nowhere else is going to be quite as perfect for him to bang in 30 goals a season.
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Thing is the club will have all the relevant data on players, this stuff can tell you more than the player would ever expect to even know it wish to admit it will probably give them a fair assessment of Salah’s projectery.
I hope he stays but as I said I think I’d rather keep him and run it down at this point, couple of years back I’d have said no (but the club is financially healthy, it’s never going to seek to replace Salah, it will seek to find a solution to its systems needs, this is key in how we operate). I don’t think anyones going blast us out of the water and I don’t think Salah will openly ask for a move in the summer. In fact if Egypt can get to the finals his mind will probably focus on that instead of looking for a new club.
At this point in time it’s worth trying to keep Klopp for another 2 years.
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To be honest, I would not be surprised if the aim all along has been to leave on a free. It’s still what I’d have my money on.
My take too. This seems to be the way things are going now. I fully expect Keita to do the same , maybe even Mané.
Agreed. However, one of the things I have read is that he is pushing not so much for a a raise, but a restructuring to shift more of his compensation towards guaranteed salary. I think it is reasonable to question the motives of such an ask, but if our philosophy on compensation is to not pay you for what you have done elsewhere but what you do in a liverpool shirt, I dont know there are too many more deserving people for having a shift towards guaranteed income.
Wat if part if part of Mo’s thinking is that he is perceiving a desire to work in some strategic rest periods for him, which will necessarily impact on his bonus pay outs. Would he not be entitled to counter by asking for a new compensation structure that doesnt penalize him for that?
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Hmm, that’s a good point. If that’s the crux of the negotiations, rather than the total wage package, he’s got a pretty good case. It changes the discussion a bit, even though it’s still about wage structure at the core of it.
I think if that was the case, he’d have signed already.
The account I read suggested he was looking what he generally takes home as basic, bonuses on top of that, and control of his own image rights too.
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The problem is if we do agree to his demands the wage structure is blown. Everyone else will want the same, more basic and less incentives. That’s the irony really our wage bill is one of the highest in football, and it’s that high because of our success. I think it’s the ideal way of working, the only problem is players will leave if they do get to godhood level in the game and want the wages matching.
And for clarity I don’t think bad of Salah wanting that, he does deserve it, but I also know the reality of what the club can offer and why they won’t go above a certain level.
Personally I think if Salah had another agent he would have signed. We are a match made in heaven, and it’s being poisoned by a toxic agent wanting his pay day.
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Is our wage bill really that high?
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It’s typically in the top 5-6 in the world yes.
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I don’t have any numbers but if I would have to guess I’d say
City, Chelsea and ManU are clearly ahead of us.
Paris too.
Real too.
Juventus with all the free transfers they surely are paying high wages.
Barca and Bayern were ahead of us but many old stars (Robben, Ribéry, Boateng, Messi Suarez) left them in the last few years so maybe we should be on a similar level now.
I believe our individual wages are not very high but we have a huge squad.
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Our basic wages are very low, but add in the incentives they are up there with the best in the world.
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It is. Our top wages may not be like at some other places, although it’s also structured (not like it isn’t elsewhere, but here perhaps even more). Keeping a side like this together and also buying some not too shabby players, competing at the top level obviously also costs money.
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