In a troubled few weeks for Liverpool it was, perhaps, the most concerning image of all.
The sight of Jurgen Klopp, one of Anfield’s greatest managers, involved in a touchline row with Mohamed Salah, one of the club’s best players of the modern era, at West Ham on Saturday was at best unseemly and, at worst, raised serious questions.
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With Klopp’s departure at the end of the season pre-ordained, those queries centred on Salah — his relations with the manager and his staff, his wider state of mind as he battles against a slump in form and, most pertinently, his long-term future.
The Egyptian, who is Liverpool’s top earner at around £350,000 ($377,000) a week after the contract extension he signed in 2022, has one year remaining on his deal and there has been no progress over new terms, with the club’s focus falling on hiring Klopp’s successor — almost certainly Arne Slot.
As The Athletic revealed on Monday, Liverpool expect Salah to stay this summer and are planning on him being part of their squad for next season.
But with his future back on the agenda, what are Liverpool’s options — and what makes most sense?
Option 1: Sell him now… at the right price
Liverpool may be expecting Salah to stay, but given owners Fenway Sports Group’s (FSG) self-sustaining business model, there’s a case for cashing in on him this summer.
It’s not just that his form has been so patchy since returning to action from the hamstring injury he initially suffered at the Africa Cup of Nations in January. He turns 32 in June and there have to be concerns that performing at the highest level for so long has taken a toll. He averaged over 50 appearances in his first six seasons at Liverpool.
One of the reasons why Liverpool’s owners rate Michael Edwards so highly is his ability to take emotion out of the decision-making process. It’s all about what’s best for the club going forward rather than what someone has previously delivered.
Liverpool turned down an offer of £100million, potentially rising to £150m with add-ons, for Salah from Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad last August. It was a no-brainer at the time because there wasn’t sufficient time to recruit a suitable replacement.
However, if a similar figure is on the table earlier in the window this summer, it would be hard to reject. Such a windfall would enable them to recruit a younger replacement.
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Can Liverpool really run the risk of losing Salah for nothing in 2025? In recent years, Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, James Milner, Divock Origi and Gini Wijnaldum have all left as free agents.
In many of those cases, Liverpool reasoned that keeping a player around for their final year was worth more to the club than the relatively modest fee their sale would have generated. Salah’s value, however, is on a different level.
Of course, selling him is only really viable if Saudi clubs come calling, given that it’s hard to see another European club being willing to pay the kind of wages and transfer fee required to satisfy all parties. Salah would also need to agree to leave now rather than next summer, when he would be able to command a much higher signing-on fee.
James Pearce
Option 2: A new contract at reduced terms
The difficulty for Liverpool is figuring out whether Salah’s slump in form is a blip that he will recover from after a summer of rest and recovery or if this is his new level.
Salah will play better than his current form — quality does not disappear in an instant — but his ability to win games for Liverpool single-handedly has diminished and more than ever he looks human; part of a team rather than the superhero.
With that in mind, the possibility of offering Salah a new deal on significantly reduced terms has to be one the club takes seriously.
Salah deservedly became the club’s highest earner when he signed his current contract in 2022. But Liverpool cannot solely offer a deal based on what a player has done: it is about what they will do next.
That doesn’t mean the Egypt international will like it. He will no doubt argue that once again he will finish the season as Liverpool’s top goalscorer. He is still the club’s best forward compared to his team-mates, who still have question marks surrounding either their consistency, injuries or production.
Salah is no longer the tricky speedster who torments full-backs. While still quick, he cannot run away from opponents like he once did and his take-on success percentage has halved. He has adapted his game, though, becoming a creator alongside his goalscoring.
Arne Slot’s 4-2-3-1 system often asks the right winger to drift inside becoming a second No 10. It is a role which might suit Salah more than what is currently being asked of him. It should get him closer to the goal, increasing the likelihood of him assisting or scoring. There is also the option of converting him into a No 9 — a role he has appeared in on rare occasions under Klopp.
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This could give him a new spark — but convincing a global superstar they are not worth their current salary will be a difficult sell.
Andy Jones
Option 3: Keep him another season and let him leave for free
Liverpool have shown in recent seasons that they are not afraid to allow players to leave for nothing at the end of their contract.
Thiago and Joel Matip are set to do so this season while Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Keita, Milner, Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana have all followed the same path.
Letting Salah walk away for nothing is different as the rest were never considered Liverpool’s best player, and their values had reduced to the point where any sale would have generated little funds.
The question often asked in these situations is whether keeping the player for one more year is more valuable than cashing in on him. If the Saudi Pro League are unwilling to offer big money and would rather wait — with their expectation that Salah will remain at Liverpool next season — there may not be an offer made that Liverpool feel is acceptable.
It may help Slot to have the foremost of his striking options, even for only a season as part of the transition. There are already areas of the squad that need work this summer, so adding another item to the incoming manager’s to-do list would not be ideal.
Besides, Salah could return to an elite level next season. There will be a tweak to his role as Slot’s system differs to Klopp’s and the new system and manager may fit him perfectly. It would also give Liverpool more time to find and sign his replacement.
From Salah’s perspective, staying another year would also offer one last crack at winning the Premier League and Champions League. It would also offer him more control over his future as a free agent — he’d be free to talk to foreign clubs from January 2025 — as well as picking up a significant signing-on bonus.
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Andy Jones
Option 4: Keep him — whatever the cost
There is a temptation to regard this season as some kind of failure for Salah and, on its worst days, even let it point to the start of fading powers.
The last month has helped to entrench the doubts yet, even with his injury problems and time spent away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Salah has scored 24 Liverpool goals. The next best? Darwin Nunez with 18.
Liverpool are yet to find anyone capable of delivering as consistently as Salah, and until that day arrives it would be a huge gamble to even contemplate parting with their talisman.
An extended contract on the current terms is admittedly the least likely summer move being considered, but Salah’s value to Liverpool — on and off the pitch — remains enormous.
One has helped the other to grow in the last seven years, and keeping Salah around for the long term can help ensure the transition from Klopp to Slot runs as smoothly as possible. Losing one revered figure will be hard enough without seeing another depart.
Do not mistake this for a sentimental vote or confuse it with Manchester United’s ill-fated — and expensive — reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021. Salah, even at nearly 32, still has plenty left to offer to Liverpool.
He is the club’s modern-day icon with good reason (210 goals and counting) and tying him down until at least 2026 has greater merit than risk. Signing a suitable replacement would likely cost an awful lot more.
Phil Buckingham