It has been reported that Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah is ready to stay at Anfield beyond the end of the summer transfer window if two conditions are met.
Following a summer transfer saga in which he was the subject of a £150m bid from Al-Ittihad – which Liverpool turned down – the 31-year-old has continued to rewrite the history books under Jurgen Klopp.
On Thursday evening, Salah scored the Reds’ third goal in their 6-1 Europa League demolition of Sparta Prague, becoming the first player in the history of the club to net 20 times in seven consecutive seasons.
With 206 goals from 336 appearances in a Liverpool jersey – in addition to 92 assists – only four players, Ian Rush, Billy Liddell, Gordon Hodgson and Roger Hunt, have found the net for the Reds on more occasions.
However, there has been no change to Salah’s contract situation since the summer of 2022, and as things stand, the ex-Chelsea and Roma man will be able to leave the club for nothing at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Such a scenario is unthinkable for the Reds hierarchy, but they are braced for summer bids from the Public Investment Fund-backed teams of the Saudi Pro League, who have long earmarked Salah as their number one transfer target.
A contract extension on Merseyside is not believed to be out of the question, though, and according to Football Insider, the 31-year-old would be willing to stay with Liverpool if he receives a couple of assurances from the board.
The report states that Salah wants to be kept in the know about the club’s plans for the future and is also keen to know who their first-choice candidate is to replace Klopp, who will call time on his Reds career at the end of the season, although he has already affirmed that the German’s exit will not impact his decision.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso – whom Liverpool could take on in the 2023-24 Europa League final – is at the top of their shortlist, but Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid could all be after the Spaniard too.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim and Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann are alternative options, and the Reds’ owners Fenway Sports Group have already undertaken a transformation of their upstairs department with the return of Michael Edwards.
The former Liverpool sporting director will start work as FSG’s CEO of Football in June, where he will be tasked with overseeing the search for a new head coach and guiding the club through their transitional period.
Confirmation of Edwards’s return arrived this week, and the Merseyside giants are now expected to wrap up the acquisition of sporting director Richard Hughes, who recently left his post at Bournemouth.
Liverpool have been without a transfer guru since Jorg Schmadtke left at the end of January, prior to which Julian Ward – Edwards’s successor – stepped down from his position after just one season.
Despite a pair of muscle injuries since the turn of the year, Salah boasts another brilliant total of 20 goals and 13 assists from 31 Liverpool games in 2023-24, also setting up three of the Reds’ six strikes against Sparta on Thursday.
Klopp’s side will meet Atalanta BC in the Europa League quarter-finals next month, and Salah is expected to retain his place in the first XI for Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final with Manchester United.
