Mohamed Salah joined Liverpool seven years ago, and in that time, he has made himself a bona fide legend at the club. With over 200 goals, consistent world class performances and eight trophies in his time at Liverpool, it is understandable that Liverpool fans are concerned over the prospect of losing Mohamed Salah when his contract expires at the end of the season. The question is whether it would be the smartest move for Liverpool to give him a new contract?
Salah is now 32 years old, which for most players, especially wingers, would be the time that they slow down and start to regress. Salah is not like many players in this way. He doesn’t appear to be showing signs of slowing down and he looks to be in brilliant shape physically. It is very unlikely that Liverpool could find a player with better fitness than Mohamed Salah, especially one with the Egyptian’s ability.
Karim Adeyemi, Johan Bakayoko and Bryan Mbeumo are some names that have been put out there as Mohamed Salah ‘replacements’ should he leave, and while they are all good, young players, it is unlikely that they would match Mohamed Salah’s goals and assists output. While a different profile could be good for Liverpool, the other attacking players have not really shown that they could fill the hole left by Mohamed Salah in terms of output. Diogo Jota has a similar goal per game rate when he’s fit but he typically misses big chunks of the season through injury. Diaz has started the season in brilliant goalscoring form, but we haven’t seen this from him before to this extent, Nunez misses far too many chances and Cody Gakpo hasn’t been able to hold down a starting spot since joining the club.
Salah reportedly makes £350,000 per week in his current contract. If he were to sign to similar wages for 2 years, that would total at around £40,000,000. Liverpool would need to spend far more than that to find a top right winger, who still would not be on the level of Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool FC should definitely be offering the Egyptian a new contract, especially with Salah reportedly eager to stay at the club, as it would be an impossible task to replace him. It makes more financial sense to keep him, and with Salah’s mentality and fitness, he could easily play at a top level for years to come.