Steven Gerrard is hopeful that one Liverpool player who’s ‘obsessed with the game’ will remain at Anfield for the foreseeable future.
Mo Salah is due to become a free agent next June as things stand, with little over two months remaining until prospective suitors can approach him about a pre-contract move if he hasn’t penned new terms with the Reds before then.
The Egyptian has been prolific as ever in the first few weeks of the season, scoring seven goals already this term prior to tonight’s clash against RB Leipzig and taking his overall tally for LFC to 218, the fifth-highest in the club’s history.
Gerrard: Salah can keep going for years
Speaking on a charity live stream for The Redmen TV to raise funds for Zoe’s Place, Gerrard claimed that Salah is ‘obsessed’ with the relentless pursuit of excellence and keeping himself in optimum shape, and he’s hopeful that
“I’m not surprised [by Salah’s longevity] because I think he’s obsessed with the game and I think you can see the body shape, the routines you can see. I follow his social media and I always talk to people [about him].
“I always pick John’s [Achterberg] brain on a daily basis and he says he was really obsessed to be the best. He wants to break records and he wants to be remembered as the best, so I’m not surprised in terms of how he approaches his profession.
“I think he’s going to be one of these players that we’ll all appreciate even more when the day eventually comes that he moves on.
“I still think we’ll get a couple of years out of Mo Salah. He will deliver for many more years because of his shape, his professionalism, so I hope he stays. I hope we get more out of him and I’m not surprised because [Salah’s among] the ones who are obsessed with the profession.”
Salah looks capable of excelling for a few more seasons
Salah may be approaching the veteran stage of his career at 32 but he’s still young enough to continue excelling at a high level for another few years, particularly given his exceptional physique that Gerrard has rightly lauded.
The Egyptian took over from James Milner as the king of Liverpool’s pre-season lactate test when the now-Brighton midfielder left Anfield last year, which is a testament to his extraordinary fitness levels.
The forward has shown no signs of slowing down in terms of his output this season – if anything, he’s well placed to smash through his 2023/24 return of 25 goals and 14 assists, with seven and six respectively in the current campaign already.
Salah is certainly capable of continuing to hit high figures for another few years, but the only club for which we want to see him doing just that is the one for which he’s currently playing.