Mohamed SALAH: 2024/25

I suspect it comes down to how long of a contract he is willing to sign. I doubt the club will go past two years because of the expectation that his decline could be sudden. They would probably be quite willing to pay him very well next year, after that it is tricky. He may well be able to get a 5-year contract in another league.

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Salah has modified his game quite a fair bit…

While he doesn’t sprints as far in a foot race now, but he makes it up with creativity and good decision making…

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For the most part. He still has some poor passing in him, and the right side is a weakness because Salah isn’t tracking back as much when Trent overlaps and the ball is turned over. These are flaws that we have to learn to live with though, and if TAA goes it’ll change quite a bit. We’ll need to bring in a top RB because it looks like Bradley can’t stay healthy based on the last 18 months or so.

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Based on absolutely nothing at all, but I have a feeling that for him (and Virg) there might be a question of international football as part of this. I’d be happy to give them both three years, but only if they knocked their national teams on the head.

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Mo’s numbers are outstanding and he is on course, numbers wise to eclipse any previous season.

My only issue is that because he doesn’t track his full back, we are weak defensively down our right side.

Grav has to come across to help out, leaving space in the middle or Szob has to cover more distance to help Trent, also, Szobs starting position, is at times too far away from their left back for him to get in position.

I see numerous times where our RB has a 2 v 1 situation or 3 v 2 if Grav gets across.

Earlier in the season Mo seemed to do more tracking back and we were far more defensively solid. Maybe this is tactical to save Mo’s legs and to keep him in the final 3rd, but on the other hand it is hurting our defensive shape.

How many games this season as the oppositions RB created chances or goals against us by overlapping or underlapping.

It is a hard conundrum on whether Mo does need to help more defensively.

I also wonder if this is why the club are reluctant to give him what he wants, when his output offensively is stratospheric.

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I think 3 years is too long for both maybe 2 with an option in our favour for a 3rd.

I do feel we need to have more or use our current options more to rest them both more.

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Thanks for the validation fellas - maybe I should change my tagline (courtesy of @Bekloppt and drop a star - four star fuckwitt?)

I know Joel was unusual but, from memory, players can be called up for duty and have to go even if they are ā€˜retired’. Could see this as a real pressure for Mo if he was to tell the Egyptian FA he no longer wanted to play for them.

I could be wrong, but I think Mo fully embraces playing for Egypt. It is his country, his home, his roots, his people… he is a good Muslim and gives money to support various charities there, etc.

To watch him go away and give his all, and risk injury, and come back knackered and often below the level before he went away, is a pain in the backside for me as a Liverpool fan. But from everything I’ve seen I think it is a source of pride and passion for Mo to represent his country.

With AFCON coming up next season, and Mo’s history of coming back below par for Liverpool, it is a serious consideration for a new deal. He is putting up incredible numbers but I don’t think it will continue at the same level next season. I hope a new deal can be agreed, but for me, it’s not at any cost. If he is overvaluing himself I could see us parting company, definitely with some regrets as he is such a good player, but a new thing will emerge as Slot shapes his side.

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Agreed - AFCON has to be a serious part of the club’s thinking.

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I know things move on and the club is bigger than any one player.

But how are we going to replace him?

That right wing will forever be irreplaceable, unless we find another gem like him.

It’s also why, given Darwin needs replacing, it may be that we decide it’s better to let Mo go and use the wages to bring in a couple of new forwards this summer, let them settle and then look to bring in
another next summer as one of Diaz/Jota/Chiesa likely move on.

We evolve. You don’t replace the likes of Dalglish, Gerrard or Salah. But we can end up with an even better side if we play our cards right.

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I think the dichotomy between Mo’s general performance and G/A output is being overstated here.

Yes, there are games where he’s been poor and still won the game for us. But there’s also been plenty of games where he has been brilliant, or at least had a long period of brilliance where he is bending the game to his will.

Maybe folk are trying to soften the blow but I don’t see any benefit to selling him this year. No amount of money freed up from his wages will replace how clinical he is in front of goal. I want to see him here for 2-3 more years, smashing records and staking a claim to be our best ever player

Yeah but we can’t just offer him a blank cheque. The money has to be sustainable and make sense in terms of our squad. I’m sure we could do one bumper year but after that it would need to be able to be adjusted significantly down if he’s not longer producing. Also ACN next year will likely reduce his performances for the second half of the season and when that’s all put together you can see why it’s possible the club can’t justify the kind of wages he could get elsewhere. But of course everyone wants hin to stay if a deal can be done

I don’t think he’d be asking for a blank cheque. It’s clear how much he loves the club, and also is motivated by personal glory/records he won’t achieve in Saudi.

I do agree that we should be asking him to retire from International football as part of any deal

We can’t sell him. He’s out of contract in the Summer.

Selling him is no longer an option. He signs a new contract at LFC or elsewhere, but he can announce a new contract agreement with another club tomorrow if he likes.

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I would be astonished if he were to agree. Playing for Egypt is clearly very important to him.

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The thing with MO…
In reality, it is his goals and assist record we need to replace. This might be decided upon by the powers at be, by playing in a style that shares this burden across the team…
The good form of MO in recent seasons, could be one factor in why Nunez has never cemented a position of his own…! Could be, that he struggles to shine while MO is in the team :man_shrugging:
It could also be another reason why he never got sold in January… MO might still be undecided about committing to us beyond this season… Take MO out of the equation, Nunez might begin to shine, by playing a slightly different style to what we are doing at the moment…!