I’d probably keep him because he is such a good citizen, always available, and has been a join to watch since he joined the team. Which is why I’m not a DOF because I suspect the smart choice for the long term future of the club would be to sell him for top dollar next summer and bring in a young winger with the money. I’ve always tried to be on the side of move on from an aging great player a year too soon rather than a year too late (see Fabinho and Henderson last year)
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If Mo wanted to move with a year left on his Liverpool deal, I would sell, sell, sell.
The Saudi money would be ridiculous, and would allow us to get a world class player who is much younger, or two emerging world class players.
There’s no guarantee they would go on to produce what Mo has produced in a red shirt, and in fact they probably won’t match Mo in a direct head to head. But then again, there’s no guarantee that Mo will continue to do what he has done either. In fact, he won’t. Nobody can defeat Old Father Time.
The only debate is how long he goes on for, at a high enough level for us. 34? 35?
It’s impossible to say. To my eye he has already lost a step, and he cannot surge away from defenders as before, on speed alone. But his numbers are still so good, not to mention his profile, that we might well get 150M for him from the Saudis, even with a year left on his contract.
If he wants to wind down his contract at Liverpool he would be well within his rights. He would chase goals and trophies, and then move on to the final stage of his career.
From a Liverpool perspective, that would cost us 100M+ in terms of money in the kitty to buy a replacement. It wouldn’t be a sound financial move for LFC, but as a sporting prospect, another year with a productive Mo Salah in the side can hardly be a bad thing.
PS - who would I buy? Let’s say Mo goes to Saudi Arabia with a year left, and we have money in the bank to spend.
I would probably go to Bayern Munich and piss them off!
Musiala and Davies. Ta very much. Keep the change!
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It’s probably fair to say that he isn’t quite the player he was at 26 or 27 but he is still better than most players at 26 or 27 in that position.
I still can’t honestly see him wanting to move to Saudi, though. I’d budget on the basis that we won’t be getting a windfall for him.
That’s fine if Salah wants to go there. There is no indication he does. I don’t think he is finished in competitive football.
Mo holds all the cards here, and there is not very much the club can do.
I would be amazed if a club like Barca hasn’t already been in touch to tell him to run down his contract and join them for a big fee.
Personally, I would certainly be all in on extending Mo on a new deal to take him into his mid thirties. Perhaps if necessary with a decent release clause that suits all parties.
But I think the smart money has him running down his deal and moving on a free transfer.
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Yep, my sell with a year left comment is contingent on receiving a sum over the odds e.g. Saudi. They have made loads of noise but Mo hasn’t said anything.
If it is just a sensible sum, to a proper team, then no deal. Keep for a year until his contract ends.
I agree Mo holds all the cards. It might be fun for him to see out his contract at a resurgent Liverpool, and see what records and trophies he might yet win here.
I’m chilled about it, but if the choice is ours, and it is possible to sell for a ridiculous sum with a year left, that’s what I would choose to do.
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Yup, I’m not concerned.
We will do what is right.
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Unless we have a very good season on the PL then I’d sell Mo in the summer for an offer over 100m. We need to keep the squad ticking over and reinvesting and we can’t afford to keep letting valuable assets leave for nothing.
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What, squad churn for the sake of it?
I think that we quite clearly can, and that this is very much baked into the business model.
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Mo loves Liverpool, both the city and the club. This season he seems refreshed as does Virgil. Probably the attack refresh with Darwin and Luis plus the entire midfield refresh has him thinking of exciting possibilities with our current squad. His goals, and especially assists, are back up from last season and he seems a fresh player.
Financially, his endorsements probably outperform his playing wages and transfer fees. So performing well in Europe as opposed to the Middle East will bring in higher endorsements.
If he can continue to win trophies and accolades with us, I think he will stay until he no longer can play at the top level.
As some of you have stated, he holds all the cards.
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Has anyone kept tabs on PSG’s Lee Kang In? I’ve only seen him in bits and pieces but he looks like an interesting prospect. 22, left-footed, quick and versatile. He might be worth a punt if we can pry him off.
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Yeah, he’s actually played a fair bit more than many people might have expected given how many options PSG have in that area. PSG havent looked great in general and I dont know he’s done enough to really make a mark, but I think just getting the number of games he’s getting (even if mainly off the bench) is still pretty good for someone of his age competing with much more established and high profile players.
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You serious or tekken the piss?
The more I watch of Johan Bakayoko, the more I believe he would be a positive replacement for Mo, when Mo decides to leave.
I’ve gotten to watch him 4 or five times this season, and been impressed by his ability and work rate every game. Yeah, I know it’s not the required 10 games, but PSV play Feyenoord tomorrow early (6:15am my time, 11:15am GMT, I believe.) I’ll be watching that match!
Kid is only 20 years old, but shows a maturity about his game that belies that age. Supposedly Tottenham and Brentford are both hot after him for a Jan. signing.
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From people i know at Thorp Arch say we are going to make another for Philips in Jan we tried in summer but City wanted to keep him.
Is that who you would buy or an unreliable rumour?
Might go for a CB in January. Matip will be out for a longer time.
Isnt his contract ending also.
Wouldn’t surprise me if we do that, probably could do with a few games of not losing anyone else. Problem is bar Alisson seems they are all long term.
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It’s clear our problems our defensive. It’s clear our right side is weak. So a RB and a DM please. Pay Thiago off and just get rid to free up a space if needed.
I wouldn’t say that our right side is weak, I’d rather say that this side still doesn’t have the right balance (no pun intended).
This team finds itself in a strange situation - we need a properly proper defensive midfielder (Rodri is the yardstick at this point but we would be immeasurably better even with someone who’s a level below) and Trent seems to be slowly growing into a central midfielder, while Klopp has already bought three central midfielders + Endo, with Jones and Elliott already on club’s books.
To be honest, I’m a bit sick of this hybrid role experiment Trent is being subjected to (and Gomez, and probably Bradley as well because he suggested he was training to play a different role in his interview with The Athletic), I think it will hurt us in the long run.
I think we need a need a slight change of system and a different kind of right back, one who actually wants to play that role (I actually like the way Gomez is playing it this season when he’s near the byline). Maybe between Gomez and Bradley (and Trent covering from time to time), we would have the personnel for that change of system but it would require a defensive midfielder and a centre back - which we probably already need, so I hope we get those two and then see what to do with Nunez in a year’s time or so.
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