Mohamed Salah has made an outstanding start to his eighth Liverpool season – his last? After the 3-0 win at Manchester United, he spoke more openly than ever about his future
Liverpool FC have started the new season with three wins from three games, Mohamed Salah with three goals and three assists. The 32-year-old Egyptian is emblematic of the Reds’ early season form, where one era has just come to an end – and another may soon be coming to an end. Is Salah also saying goodbye a year after Jürgen Klopp?
At least that’s what the goalscorer himself seems to be assuming at the moment. “As you know, this is my last year at the club,” Salah said on the Sky Sports microphone on Sunday evening after Liverpool’s 3-0 triumph at Manchester United. “I want to enjoy it and not think too much about it. I feel free to play soccer.” Everything else will be seen next summer.
It was known that his contract would then end, but it was unclear what was holding up a possible extension. Apparently not Salah: “It’s not up to me, nobody from the club has spoken to me.” That is why he arrived at Old Trafford with the feeling that it could be his last game here, at least his last for Liverpool.
So is Salah’s future clear? Or were his words rather to be interpreted as a request for a new contract? While coach Arne Slot didn’t want to talk about Salah’s contract situation (“At the moment he’s one of us”), it can at least be assumed that the Reds won’t just let him go – he’s still too important to Liverpool’s game.
266 Premier League games, 232 scorer points
At Man United, Salah shone with two assists and a goal, his 15th in the last twelve competitive games against his arch-rivals. In total, he has scored 232 points (160 goals, 72 assists) in 266 Premier League games, 253 of them for Liverpool and 13 for Chelsea.
“He was impressive, as he was in the first two games,” Slot also said when asked about Salah’s show at Old Trafford, but didn’t really want to single out anyone in particular, nor double goalscorer Luis Diaz. “That’s not fair on the other nine and the substitutes. “