Sometimes you can be too clever for your own good and Liverpool’s equivocation over Mo Salah feels like one of those times.
Salah’s comments that he feels “more out than in” at Liverpool as director of football Richard Hughes and the club’s data-led football department delay over a new contract offer tell their own story.
Whatever they may say in public, there is someone, somewhere at Anfield who is not yet convinced that the Salah of this season is sustainable.
There is no secret about the issue here. Salah turned 32 in June and – to put it bluntly – veterans are not in fashion in Premier League recruitment circles right now. The game is faster, the fixture list is more frenetic and that is why no director of football wants to tilt for the Premier League and Champions League with a team full of thirty-somethings anymore.
But Salah is entering contract talks from a position of strength. Right now no Premier League player is a more potent attacking threat and he has Saudi Pro League leverage too. He and his forthright representatives are probably right to think that if Liverpool won’t give him a long-term, lucrative deal then someone else surely will.
Salah, though, wants to stay. If he didn’t he wouldn’t speak, he would just let agent Ramy Abbas get on with sorting that Saudi payday. And if his mind was wondering elsewhere he would not be almost single-handedly leading Liverpool’s impressively serene progress towards the Premier League title.
17 – Mohamed Salah's goals & assists have been worth 17 points to Liverpool this season, the most of any player in the division. Without them, Chelsea would lead the league table, and Liverpool would be 13th. Indispensable. pic.twitter.com/wnd6Lhnxw2
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 25, 2024
This is where Liverpool need to show some flexibility. It may have been the data that led them to Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp’s successor – and the return of Michael Edwards and company reflected a return to trusting the numbers – but they shouldn’t get too complacent about that.
Slot may have made a stunning start but Salah’s 10 goals and six assists are a huge reason for that. The new manager has benefited from a core of established stars who have ensured a smooth transition and none have been as important as Salah has. Just ask Ruben Amorim what he would have done for a spine like the one at Anfield.
Data can tell you a lot and has done alright for Liverpool in recent years. After Klopp’s exit, the numbers men are right back in fashion at Fenway Sports Group.
But sometimes the answer is simply staring you in the face and doesn’t need a fancy equation. A new contract for Salah is one of those occasions.
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