Don't panic! - Mo Salah's Liverpool contract comments are actually GOOD NEWS | OneFootball

Mohamed Salah ratcheted up the pressure on Liverpool last weekend, declaring to the media that he has not yet been offered a contract extension.

There is clearly an impasse between the Reds and their most famous player, with the striker’s current terms expiring in 2025. It’s only a matter of WEEKS before Salah is entitled to discuss terms with potentially interested overseas clubs.

That means Liverpool will effectively be in competition to sign their own player should negotiations fail between now and the end of the year.

And the way Salah was talking at St Mary’s suggestions a breakthrough is not imminent.

What Salah wants

It was a game in which the Egyptian King again demonstrated his importance to Liverpool, scoring twice in a come-from-behind 3-2 win, helping his side to an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Salah has got 10 goals in only 12 league games this season, starting the campaign in terrific form and emphasising to supporters why his talents should be retained.

Fans are clearly worried about the situation with Salah seemingly ready to walk out the door for nothing but there are positive signs to be gleaned from the current situation.

For one, it’s more than obvious that Salah WANTS to stay. This isn’t a Kylian Mbappe - Real Madrid scenario where the player is set against staying no matter what.

Nor is it like Trent Alexander-Arnold’s current standoff, where everyone seems to be in the dark about what Trent wants to do at the end of the season when his contract expires.

© IMAGO

Salah's benchmark offer

Salah has been explicit in that he wants to remain at Anfield; he’s not seeking a new challenge. Moreover, it’s been reported he wants to extend his goalscoring streak at Liverpool in order to get close to Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League record.

So that alone means there’s something to work with. Secondly, what we can infer from all of this is that Salah probably hasn’t got any attractive offers yet that he’s willing to use as leverage in talks with Liverpool.

Although clubs can’t speak with Salah’s entourage until January - officially - any agent worth his salt would be aware of what kind of inducements are being made towards their client to up sticks.

We learned from Turkish media ‘leaks’ that Galatasaray were prepared to offer Salah €20 million exclusive of bonuses, so the Reds at least know the benchmark of what’s out there.

© IMAGO - Liverpool Mohamed Salah Richard Hughes

Liverpool not panicking

Elsewhere there could be blockbuster packages put in front of Salah from Saudi Arabia but so far there are no indications that he is itching to make the move to the SPL at this stage of his career.

Al-Hilal - and potentially Al-Nassr as well as Al-Ittihad - could well make a play for Salah as the year closes out but Salah’s focus firmly remains on staying at Liverpool.

Now consider that Liverpool’s stance over the current situation was revealed in the Athletic’s report about Salah’s comments.

“Senior Anfield sources insist that discussions with Salah’s representative Ramy Abbas have been positive and remain ongoing,” reporter James Pearce wrote.

This indicates that the club are not yet panicking over the unfolding contract talks and that should give fans some degree of confidence.

What is becoming clear is there is a cold war of sorts, with Salah attempting to use the media in order to get his own message out there about what he’d like to happen.

Liverpool's preferred Salah terms

But the clubs have not yet bent to his will and if it’s true that they haven’t yet offered terms then there’s plenty of time to go. Salah’s last renewal - in 2022 - came at enormous cost to the club, said to be around £350,000 per week.

Now 32, it’s believed the sticking point is over the length of any deal extended to Salah. While Salah is effectively up for grabs in January, the fact that he has declared he wants to stay - allied with a seeming lack of monster offers - means Liverpool might yet feel confident of striking a deal on their preferred terms.