I could see MBS making an absurd bid for Salah, but I donāt think heāll want to head north.
The perspective of the club on theit wage structure is understandable, because theyāre also trying to tie down Mane and breaking the wage structure for one would likely force them to break the wage structure for the other. Fortunately, they have many other key players under contract for a while, so itās not like youāll see an immediate cascading effect on their wage bill.
But the real question for me is how expensive it could be to try to replace either of them on the current transfer market. It would almost certainly be cheaper to pay them a few million more per year versus paying the hundreds of millions it would cost to find replacements that are remotely comparable.
I can believe that Real Madrid are interested in Salah. Best in the world. They should be.
I can also believe that they are interested in offloading an underperforming, expensive player in Eden Hazard.
I canāt believe, at all, that we are interested in going near that deal. Nothing to see here.
What might start to get hairy is if Mo goes too much longer without signing a new deal with us. If he doesnāt sign something by next summer, I think we will sell. But we are a long way from that. I suspect the main sticking point for Mo, in signing a new deal, will be the terms of exit, should he want to try another European giant with some of his peak years left on the clock.
The money will obviously be an important part of the negotiation, but Iād like to think we would find a way forward with him there, as heās such a special player.
And on that point, if Mane is looking for parity it might mean that Mo signs a deal and Mane is sold. Sadio is an excellent player, world class, and I hope he signs too, but Mo has pulled ahead as the top star, and he did it in our shirt, and if he is rewarded with the top contract it seems fitting.
All speculative, but in the next year I can see Mo signing, Mane being sold, and Doku coming in, along with another striker who will be better than Origi, leaving the group as: Mo, Jota, Bobby, Doku, new man upgrade on Origiā¦ hopefully a big upgrade who will see plenty of action. And then Gordon starting to make a case for himself to be in the first team squad more regularly.
There only making one signing of that price and it will be Mbappe complete none story but like the Trent one a few weeks back it will get #fsgout trending again for no reason.
Think people forget they arenāt that financially in a good place themselves. Not in the hole of Barca but not great eithier.
And can we stop with that talk of Newcastle itās a couple of years off that they will be bidding like that, most of the rumours are the likes of good players at lower PL clubs.
Who would Mo actually go to? Of course heāll want to get the biggest contract of his career. And so he shouldā¦heās the best player in the world. But his main motivation is clearly team and individual honours. So where does he get a better chance than here?
RM/Barca- not on our level.
PSG- possibly but will he be the main man and hence ballon dāor contender?
Bayern- canāt afford him
City/Newcastle- can afford him but no chance.
As long as Klopp is at Liverpool he has a chance of PL/CL/Golden boot/Balon dāor