Liverpool Keep Faith with Salah—But at What Cost? | OneFootball

Mohamed Salah’s New Contract: Gamble or Genius?

So, Mohamed Salah stays at Liverpool. The news dropped like a stone into still water—calm on the surface, but the ripples run deep.

There was a time when decisions at Anfield carried the kind of quiet brilliance that made you trust them instinctively. Back then, under Michael Edwards, eyebrows remained unraised, confidence unshaken. But that era is over, and in its place has come something more uncertain, less assured. Post-Edwards, with no Sporting Director steering the ship for much of the time, Liverpool’s transfer logic has sometimes felt more muddled than meticulous.

So now we have this: Mohamed Salah, still draped in red, still our talisman—but for how much longer at his peak?

Signs of Decline Amid the Brilliance

Salah’s numbers still impress on the surface—goals, assists, moments of individual class—but the deeper data, the kind Liverpool’s analysts pore over, tells a more sobering story. His top speed is waning. His high-intensity sprints are falling off. His total distance covered is dipping, and since the turn of the year, even his ability to carry the ball at defenders has diminished.

Inside the club, they’ll know this. They’ll have modelled it, run simulations, debated the trajectory. So the decision to hand him a reported £400,000-a-week contract, according to Chris Bascombe, is not one taken lightly—it’s a calculated risk.

But let’s be honest: risks have become all too common lately. The signing of Darwin Núñez was questionable. Luis Díaz? Exciting, yes, but maybe not what was needed. Cody Gakpo’s arrival forced a reshuffle that made more noise than sense. And crucially, Liverpool still haven’t sorted out a stable long-term Director of Football—leaving contract management in a mess and decision-making vulnerable to short-term thinking.

Losing the Edge Without Trent

One factor that’s amplified Salah’s recent drop-off is the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold. The partnership between them has been symphonic at times—two players who seem to share a sixth sense, picking out each other’s movements with a precision rare in football. When Trent’s not on the pitch, Salah’s reduced. The rhythm is off. The ball takes longer to find him. He becomes peripheral, isolated—just another winger, rather than the man who makes defences panic.

Consider this: in his last two league starts, Salah has taken just two shots, generated an xG of 0.5, and managed four shot-creating actions. That’s not form—that’s famine. And it’s not just on him. Opponents have worked out that if you double up on Salah, there’s little fear of being punished elsewhere. The rest of the front line, to put it bluntly, hasn’t frightened anyone.

What Comes Next Under Arne Slot?

Liverpool had a choice. Let Salah go and rebuild the attack—perhaps into a more fluid, interchangeable system, similar to what PSG attempt with their rotating front three. Or double down on their No.11, structure everything around him, and hope to squeeze every last ounce from a generational talent in his twilight years.

They chose the latter. It’s bold. It could be brilliant. It could also backfire if recruitment this summer isn’t spot-on. If reinforcements don’t arrive to support and unlock Salah, then Liverpool risk becoming over-reliant on a 33-year-old who, by winter, often looks like he’s already played a season’s worth of football.

And this isn’t said with malice. Salah remains a phenomenon. But second-half-of-the-season Salah has never quite matched the devastating impact of his autumn version. Relying on him as your sole spearhead feels like leaning too heavily on nostalgia.

There’s still a chance this works. If Arne Slot and his staff transition Salah into more of a supplier—an experienced outlet feeding a new generation of pace and purpose—it could extend his relevance and ease the burden. But if the creative load remains solely on his shoulders, there’s only one likely outcome.

So yes, he stays. But Liverpool haven’t just handed out a new contract—they’ve committed to a path that could shape the club’s next few years. Whether it’s brilliance or blind loyalty, only time will tell.