Mohamed Salah Wants to Finish Career at LFC
The Egyptian King hopes to retire as a Red, but it’s up to the Liverpool front office to make that happen.
Mohamed Salah has been on an absolute tear this season as he continues to rack up goals and set Liverpool FC records. So far, the 29-year-old has scored 12 times in 11 appearances, reached the 100 Premier League goal milestone faster than any other Red, set the LFC record for Champion’s League goals, and tied Didier Drogba’s record for most goals by an African player in the PL.
While his play has many pundits and fans discussing if he is the best player in the world right now, there is also plenty of attention being devoted to his contract situation. The Egyptian’s contract is set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 season. While LFC spent most of the summer locking up the core of their squad to longer-term contracts, no such extension happened for the world-class winger.
It’s been rumored that Salah’s camp is seeking a contract that would be big enough to potentially throw off the entire Liverpool wage structure, which is understandably offputting for a 29-year-old winger. However, Salah’s incredible form has many urging the club to do whatever it takes to ensure he sees out the remainder of his playing career at LFC.
Salah has also expressed a very strong desire to stay on Merseyside. In a new interview with Sky Sports, he made it very clear that he doesn’t see himself playing anywhere else, but the decision is ultimately up to LFC.
“If you ask me, I would love to stay until the last day of my football career, but I can’t say much about that - it’s not in my hands,” Salah said. “It depends on what the club want, not on me.”
“At the moment I can’t see myself ever playing against Liverpool. That would make me sad. It’s hard, I don’t want to talk about it, but it would make me really sad. At the moment I don’t see myself playing against Liverpool but let’s see what will happen in the future.”
It seems fairly obvious that this is a tactic to try and drum up sympathy from LFC supporters. It also seems like it’s already working as fans are already ramping up the pressure on the club to get a deal done.
Still, it’s not hard to believe that the feelings he expressed are sincere. While football seemingly becomes more and more about the money every day, Salah clearly loves playing for LFC and believes it’s where he has the best chance of winning more trophies.
He is sure to want, and certainly deserves, a significant wage increase for what is likely to be his final big contract, but there is no reason to believe he isn’t willing to accept much less than he could get on the open market if it means he gets to finish his career in Liverpool.
In all likelihood, Salah and LFC will reach an agreement on a contract extension that will give him more money without blowing up the club's carefully built wage structure while keeping the Egyptian in Liverpool for the rest of his prime playing years.
LFC may want to hurry up and make the deal happen though. Salah is showing no signs of slowing down, and his current form is only going to drive the price up further.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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