The fear of players picking up injuries has club managers perpetually approaching the international break with trepidation, but there is another reason why some will be squirming in their seats for a few fortnights each year.
The insatiable thirst for transfer news may well peak around the summer and winter windows, but it is during the periods of international matches where players have discussed their futures.
This time around, it’s Mohamed Salah. Speaking to Marca, the Liverpool forward said he was open to a possible move to Spain, albeit with a non-committal response which serves to offend no one and keep all options on the table.
Asked if it is time to move on after four years at Liverpool, Salah replied: “It’s not up to me. We’ll see what happens but I prefer not to talk about that now.”
Then when asked about the prospect of playing Spanish football, he added: “I hope to be able to play for many more years. Why not? No one knows what’s going to happen in the future, so… maybe one day, yes.”
The “why not?” is a short but diplomatic phrase that was also used by Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, who last year said it would be a “dream” to play for Real Madrid.
This Pogba soundbite came during international duty with France, while it was away with Wales last September when Gareth Bale welcomed the idea of a Premier League return.
Eden Hazard, meanwhile, declared “you all know my preferred destination” at the 2018 World Cup after Belgium beat England in the third-place play-off. He would go on to join Real from Chelsea a year later.
Away from their clubs’ grasps, players are more exposed on international duty. There are no club press officers present to whisper and urge restraint, meaning they are often faced with questions knowing full well any answer will become a headline.
This is the case with managers all-year round. Pep Guardiola could only smile earlier this month when asked for a third time about Erling Haaland after Manchester City were drawn with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarters. The City boss gave the popular I do not talk about another club’s player response, but that did not prevent the transfer rumour mill from harvesting a fresh angle for where Haaland could end up this summer.
No response is as good as a coy or entirely sweeping response, and so Salah was somewhat trapped the moment a sit-down interview with Marca was agreed upon.
In the main, the interview with Salah previews Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final meeting with Real Madrid, three years on from the Reds’ 2018 final defeat to the Spanish club, where the Egyptian was substituted off early after a challenge from Sergio Ramos.
The first 13 questions cover the match-up, with Salah reluctant to admit he’s on a revenge mission, while also skirting around a question about which Real Madrid player Liverpool should sign.
At the end, he is then asked about his future, with his replies as quoted above. The “why not?” and the “maybe one day” from the school of careful responses.
Inevitably, the spotlight has been cast on his final two answers, present article included, and while question marks could be raised about why Salah is doing a Marca interview four months after speaking to fellow Spanish outlet AS, he has in truth said little wrong.
Wayne Rooney’s “Once a Blue, always a Blue” t-shirt lost its meaning when he swapped it for the red of Manchester United, while Fabian Delph was criticised and bombarded with snake emojis in 2015 when joining Manchester City from Aston Villa just days after he said he would not leave the Midlands club.
Declaring an unwavering loyalty may well be endearing, but it only serves to disappoint should a player have intentions of one day moving elsewhere, while it should never be the go-to answer even if a player has, at that present time, no desire to leave.
With this in mind, Salah’s answers arguably hit the right notes. He may well love Liverpool, the club where he has won the Premier League and Champions League, but for a player who has already ventured to Switzerland and Italy as well as England, there is nothing that ties him to the club beyond the summer of 2023 – when his current contract expires – and prevents him from moving to Spain.
He has rightly avoided committing his entire playing future to Liverpool, and he has rightly left the idea of a future move open.
Salah would be free to go anywhere in two years’ time, while the nature of the transfer market also means a transfer could happen earlier if the right price is offered.
In essence, he could just as easily remain at Liverpool for another five years as he could decide he wants to leave this summer, and while there is that uncertainty, there is always speculation. And while there is speculation, there is the desire to seek answers by asking certain questions at opportune moments.
He isn’t the first to fall into this international break trap, and he won’t be the last.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2QNiZ4V
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