Mo Salah will have sent chills down the spines of Liverpool fans after suggesting this could very well be his final season with the club.
The Egyptian international has been plying his trade in the famous red shirt since the summer of 2017, breaking records left, right and centre.
With his contract running in its final year, however, there is a very real fear that the 32-year-old could call time on his Anfield career in 2025.
“To be fair, I was coming to the game and I said, ‘it could be my last time’ the club have not talked to me yet so I will play my last season and see at the end of the season,” the former Chelsea star was quoted at the time.
What has Fabrizio Romano heard about Liverpool’s contract plans?
Fabrizio Romano now reports that the Merseysiders have every intention of resolving this issue. Not just for our joint-top scorer (alongside Luis Diaz) this season, but also with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Liverpool were, understandably, focused on fulfilling their transfer objectives in the window just gone by.
Some significant progress was made with the signing of potential long-term Alisson Becker successor, Giorgi Mamardashvili, and the arrival of Federico Chiesa, who should provide some important attacking depth.
Now it seems we can expect talks to take place between the club and Salah’s entourage over the coming weeks.
“There are no negotiations ongoing, nothing happened over the summer because Liverpool wanted to focus on the summer transfer window. They completed some important sales, then in the final days some signings, but Liverpool were completely focussed on the summer transfer window. So they didn’t talk to Trent, didn’t talk to Virgil van Dijk, didn’t talk to Mo Salah,” the CaughtOffside columnist spoke on The Debrief podcast.
“This month and the next month, Liverpool will have conversations to discuss the futures of these players including Mo Salah. So his contract is expiring next summer. I think Salah said that sentence because there are no negotiations so it could be his final season at Liverpool, but it’s not guaranteed yet. There will be talks before deciding what is happening.
“Let’s leave Liverpool some time before making a decision altogether with his agent on Mo Salah’s future. One year ago, he was a big target for Saudi; this summer nothing concrete happened around Salah because Arne Slot is very happy with him and they want to keep him at the club.
“At the moment, it all depends on the talks that takes place between Mo and Liverpool in the next few months.”
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The Reds next take on Nottingham Forest on September 14 after the international break.
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The international break does not come at an ideal time
Certainly not as far as keeping up our momentum on the pitch is concerned.
Likewise, call-ups for various key internationals, including our No.11, will hardly be beneficial for getting talks underway over a new contract.
In that sense, we’d expect any breakthrough to arise in the latter stages of September, if at all.
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