Mohamed Salah and his representatives have ramped up the pressure on Liverpool to renew his contract before it expires in the summer, according to Reds expert David Lynch.
The Egyptian has arguably been the best player in the Premier League this season, scoring 17 goals and assisting 13 times in just 18 appearances in the top flight.
Salah has fired the Reds to first place in the Premier League and the Champions League tables, and he will no doubt relish the opportunity to lead his side to another victory against Manchester United this Sunday.
With the January transfer window now open, Lynch told Sports Mole that Salah is ramping up pressure on Liverpool to extend his contract, rather than looking for a move to clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, saying: "[A move to PSG would] be a distant second to getting the deal he wants at Liverpool.
"Stories will start to circulate now - pressure is being ramped up from [Salah's] representatives to try and get Liverpool to do the deal. If [Liverpool] are worried about these stories at all, there's a real simple way of stopping them being on the back pages, which is to get that deal done.
"We are getting to the point now in January where you need to see one of these [contract extensions] getting done soon because big questions are starting to be asked and there's pressure on the sporting director, particularly after a quiet summer where the main target was missed out on."
Sporting director Richard Hughes has only been in place since the summer, but has so far failed to come to terms with Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold or Virgil van Dijk, who are all set to leave Anfield for free at the end of the season as things stand.
Why Salah's form is pressurising Liverpool
While Salah's representatives have been applying pressure to the Merseysiders off the pitch, the forward's form on the pitch has put the club in an awkward position as failure to come to terms would make Liverpool look somewhat amateurish.
The attacker has been directly involved in 52 goals in 2024 - 29 goals and 23 assists in all competitions - and this was more than every other player across Europe's top five leagues.
Salah is averaging a goal or assist every 52.7 minutes in the top flight, and this is the best ever return in the history of the Premier League, and two more goals on the weekend would take his league tally to 176, one more than Thierry Henry.
Lynch expressed his belief that Salah is on track to surpass many of the league's greatest players and break numerous more records, telling Sports Mole: "It's record-breaking stuff what he's doing and he has been doing it for years and years, but even this season he seems to have picked up a level. He could be on for even his own best season in the Liverpool shirt, which didn't seem possible when he had that 44-goal season [in 2017-18].
"He will be eyeing up that Thierry Henry 24 goals, 20 assists [season], and that feels within the realms of possibility because Liverpool are not even at the halfway mark in terms of the games played because they still have that Everton game. He's got a lot of opportunity to get there and he's always available which is one of his real superpowers - alongside how good he is.
"You just feel confident that there are going to be more records to be broken between now and the end of the season because he's constantly on the pitch and he's constantly brilliant, so really excited to see where this can go."
Salah is currently on track to score 35 goals and provide 27 assists in the Premier League, and considering how well the forward looks after his fitness, the club would face significant backlash if they allowed the Egyptian to leave in the summer because of his age.
© Imago
Are contract negotiations beginning to impact Liverpool?
Salah has often made remarks about the lack of progress in negotiations with Liverpool, including ahead of his side's match against Manchester United on Sunday.
While Liverpool have only lost once in all competitions this season, rumours surrounding Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold have increased in recent weeks.
Trent has been the subject of bids from Real Madrid this month, and his refusal to state that he wants to stay at Anfield beyond this season - like Salah and Van Dijk have - has fuelled speculation that his preference is to leave the club.
With Liverpool favourites to win the Premier League, allowing the trio to run down their contracts and disrupt the season would be unfathomable, but Lynch did tell Sports Mole that there is optimism around Salah potentially extending his stay on Merseyside, saying: "I just don't feel that there's any appetite for Mohamed Salah to join PSG at this point. It's a much weaker league that doesn't get anywhere near the level of coverage and he's just too good to go there.
"He's so desperate and has made it clear that he wants to stay at Liverpool, so he's clearly given priority to that. It's just a case of can [Liverpool] make the numbers work, and obviously at the moment [they're] not quite there, but the hope is there's still some time to get it done."
Salah is reported to be the highest earner at Liverpool, and while he may be demanding a pay increase, he has so far shown that he is deserving of a contract befitting one of the world's best players.
Lewis Nolan
