Mohamed Salah, Liverpool‘s insatiable goalscorer and Egyptian king, has signed a new five-year contract. Manager Jürgen Klopp has hailed the deal, which contains no release clause, as evidence of the club’s progress.
The forward enjoyed a sensational debut season after joining from AS Roma last summer, scoring 44 goals and providing 16 assists from 52 games in all competitions, securing the Premier League golden boot in the process. Liverpool also made it to the Champions League final off the back of his terrific striking alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané.
Read more: Why Mohamed Salah must signal Liverpool’s end as Barcelona’s talent factory
As a result, Salah’s valuation has skyrocketed and he has been linked with some of the biggest clubs in world football, including serial talent-snatchers Real Madrid.
Fans are delighted
People at the club, commentators and fans alike have voiced joy at the news, hoping Salah’s signature will prompt Mané’s, especially after Firmino’s recent long-term deal. On the surface, it looks a fantastic bit of business for the club.
Salah: 5 year contract. Firmino: 5 years. Keita: 5 years. Fabinho: 5 years. Brewster 5 years. Van Dijk: 5 years. Trent 4 years. Ox: 4 years. Robertson 4 years. Gomez: 4 years. Woodburn 4 years. Solanke 4 years. Mane: offered 5 years. Klopp (4 years): "We're never gonna stop".
— David Maddock (@MaddockMirror) July 2, 2018
Just finished gym and seeing Salah have signed new 5 year deal! Great news and a big statement from Liverpool! Keeping and attracting the best players
Love this!
— John Arne Riise (@JARiiseOfficial) July 2, 2018
Mohamed Salah is 26, the fact we will now be able to see him at Anfield during his peak years is a frightening but wonderful thought.
— Oliver Bond (@Oliver__Bond) July 2, 2018
Can think of worse ways to start the day. https://t.co/O5vreeRiPt
— Tony Barrett (@TonyBarrett) July 2, 2018
New contract, old routine?
The only trouble is the precedents the club has set in the past.. Only in January, Philippe Coutinho left for Barcelona for £142 million following an ongoing transfer saga with the club. Luis Suarez did likewise for £65 million in July 2014. Both had signed long term contracts the season prior to leaving. Suarez signed a four-and-a-half year deal in December 2013 stipulating the release clause Barcelona later met, Coutinho signed a five-year deal in 2017 without one. For both, it seemed part of a club strategy that maximised the value of the player prior to sale, and granted six months in order to find a suitable replacement.
With the Coutinho money, Liverpool bought Virgil van Dijk and became one of the best sides in Europe, lining up Naby Keita in the meantime for next season.
Developing and selling top players for maximum profit is a strategy that works in terms of improving squad depth, but selling players like Salah now could set them further back from winning trophies, and Klopp knows it. He knows his side could be Premier League contenders next season and deserved their place in the Champions League final last season.
Read more:
How Liverpool could line up next season – if all their big transfers go through
Klopp spoke of the deal in terms that praised Salah, but overtly referenced the fact that world class talent has previously left Liverpool for pastures considered more elite: “I think this news can be seen for what it is; rewarding a person who performed and contributed greatly for the team and the club last season. It demonstrates two things very clearly also – his belief in Liverpool and our belief in him.
“We want world-class talent to see they have a home at Anfield where they can fulfil all their professional dreams and ambitions – we are working hard together to achieve this. When someone like Mo Salah commits and says this place is my home now, it speaks very loudly I think.”
He continued: “We want to be more successful and achieve more together – as the supporters sang so loudly: ‘We’re never gonna stop.’ This has to be the attitude individually and collectively.”
The fact that Firmino and Salah have signed deals with no release clauses is a good result for Liverpool – if Real Madrid want Salah they’ll now have to pay Mbappé and Neymar levels of money. However, Liverpool persuaded Coutinho to sign a deal with no release clause, and he left a year later – this doesn’t mean a player is certainly staying.
The ideal for Liverpool would be no sale, that Salah, Firmino and Mané are convinced by the club’s progress and carry them to trophies with some wise reinforcements.
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Whether they arere genuinely enamoured with the club, or whether Liverpool are simply buying some time and higher transfer fees, will be seen in the next few transfer windows.
For the stars to stay and to make Liverpool genuinely elite once again, would sadly buck the recent trends. That said, the current Liverpool front three love to break records.
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