If he wants to play out his contract, so be it. He will be 32 next season, legs don’t get younger and the new manager will not see him as anything but a transitional asset. I have no doubt he will be able to contribute, but it is a declining curve. If that is not what he wants, completely understandable - even if he wants to go the Saudi league, no ill feelings at all.
On the other hand, if he was willing to move last summer, in hindsight not selling him may have been a mistake.
Fair, but a new manager coming in with no existing relationship with him and likely wanting to put his own stamp on the team can often mean older, waning stars being amenable to a new challenge.
I think it’s difficult to see this season having gone as well as it did with someone else having to provide the productivity Mo did over the first 6 months of it. I think though it’s very reasonable for a new guy to question how much of the September Mo will he get vs the April Mo
Yeah, if he wants to go. But he might not.
I think some fans have already mentally banked the £100m we’re getting from the Saudi League that Mo might not want to go to.
still our top goal scorer with 25 this year. just done fuck all for the last four games.
There is also what we as a club want to do, not only what Salah wants to do. They will all decide on something.
I think we’re expecting the Saudi’s to return in the summer for Salah. The question is, how much will they offer? I think Salah knows he’ll be subject to another bid, and it’s whether he’s been convinced to join the Saudi project during the past year.
IMO, I expect we’ll see Salah’s departure for around £80m, but negotiations will be done so that in no uncertain terms, we’ll let the Saudi’s know that we’re more than prepared to let him run down his contract, and they can get him on a free the following year. I also think the allure of being the crowning jewel in the Saudi project will be too much for Salah to refuse, and he’ll do it for a few years, with the possibility of returning to Europe thereafter.
with 5 penalties. You give those Alexis instead and Mo is then neck and neck with Darwin and Jota (1 and 2 head respectively).
and likely costs us more than both combined.
The club will respect the wishes of Mo and probably leave it more in his hands, they won’t force him out if he doesn’t wanna go and we hopefully won’t play hardball if he decides to move on.
Fingers crossed this can be resolved early in the summer and the right decision is made.
What allure?
Financially I’m not too bothered. As a fan I wouldn’t look at a new contract but also I wouldn’t mind him seeing his contract down. His outlay has put enough money in this club.
We’ve also been at this position before, a reliant less Liverpool with Salah available for games every week isn’t the worst idea.
If he wants to see his contract out then so be it, I’m cool with that as long as he contributes in some way.
Let’s face it remove penalities and still get that level of goal and assist contribution from him over a similar amount of games will do me. And it’s possible if you aren’t playing him every game.
Being the pin-up for the Saudi League, with more disgusting riches thrown his way, commercial ventures tied to their World Cup bid, etc, heralded by fans across the region. It’s no secret they’re desperate for Salah. I don’t think he’ll turn that down.
Maybe those might appeal to you, but I’m not sure he’s that interested.
He’s never ever looked interested in a move away from us, except when it was convenient for him to use such links as bargaining power for a new contract. In fact, he’s always made it quite clear that he was looking for a more senior role in our team more than anything else.
I didn’t say they appealed to me.
I get the impression that his family are quite settled here. Just because he is Muslim doesn’t mean that he has some dying urge to live in an Islamic state. In fact, the freedom of religion in Britain probably suits him.
Be a lot riskier for him to post his annual Christmas tree photo I reckon…
Would be hard to put a transfer price on MO due to the fact it will probably end up in a bidding war in the sand dunes - My take… let MO decide what he wants to do, stay or go. For he has been instrumental, in what has probably been the most exciting period in the history of LFC - he has earned the right to call the shots.
Nope.
Listening to some of the tactical analysis with the way Slot plays, he asks a lot of his wingers. The style is to get the ball to them quickly, so they can make a telling attacking contribution in a 1v1.
It seems perfect for where Diaz is right now, but perhaps not so much Mo. although the analysis I saw said that Slot will usually substitute a winger during the game as he asks so much of them.
All that leads me to believe, from a footballing perspective, that if Mo stays, it will be a season of 60-70 min appearances, and that might suit him down to the ground, as at his age, if you want the best level he can do, he can’t play all the minutes.
Mo might fancy one last season going for the Prem and the CL at Liverpool, because for all the riches of the Saudi league for a top star like Salah, the actual footy side of it is shite.
On the other hand, Mo might decide he doesn’t want a transitional season under our new manager, who is ultimately looking beyond Mo as he won’t be building with him for long.
As ever, it all boils down to what Mo Salah wants to do, and while I would probably rather Slot had the dough to reinvest, say 100M, if Mo wants to see out his deal he has more than earned the right to do that, and he is still a player who will make a great contribution for us next season.
My main hope is it is sorted early, whatever way it goes, as we don’t need to be caught out with no time to react late on in the window.
Are we sure the Saudi league is still interested in spending such huge amounts? Seems to have quieted down now with many players regretting their moves.
We may not be getting the amounts we thought… and partially because we can all see that Salah is on the decline (as I’m sure they can).