Liverpool cannot afford to hand Mohamed Salah a new long-term contract if they want to avoid the same mistakes Arsenal made, although a compromise could be reached to give the Egypt international the Anfield stay that he "really wants".
That is the view of Reds expert David Lynch, who spoke to Sports Mole in-depth about Salah's future in the wake of his mysterious social media message following Liverpool's 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
After completing the Reds' comeback at Anfield and sending his side top of the Premier League table, Salah - who is out of contract at the end of the season - wrote that "no matter what happens" he would always cherish scoring in front of the Kop end at Anfield.
The 32-year-old's post naturally sent tongues wagging, but Arne Slot expressed little concern about how the message could be interpreted when put to him, and Lynch believes that Salah was simply trying to put pressure on the club.
However, the Reds expert has also cautioned Liverpool against tying him down for another three, four or five years, saying: "This is a player that really wants to stay. The one thing that's got to happen in this process and contract talks are ongoing is there's got to be some compromise from his side.
'Liverpool cannot pay £350,000 for a lesser Mo Salah'
"I think it's just too risky for Liverpool to give him a three-year contract at his current wage. For me, there's just definite decline that's going to happen in that period. And they can't afford to be paying him £350,000 for a lesser version of Mo Salah. But I think two years feels safer. It feels like a better compromise for everyone.
"And I think what he's doing with that social media post is just trying to put the pressure on Liverpool. And in fairness, it absolutely worked, because I don't know if you saw all the replies to that tweet. It was kind of, you know, people saying, just give him what he wants. You know, you have to sign him up. You can't let him go. So if that was his aim, it absolutely worked, I think.
"But it's, yeah, I think all of his actions kind of show a player who would really like to stay at Liverpool. And I think he wants to keep climbing that Premier League top scorers list. Same with the Liverpool list as well.
"And I just think, you know, when you've got a player who is clearly that desperate to stay, I don't think he's going to be sitting there saying, if you don't give me three years, I'm going to leave.
"I think there is an openness to compromise on his side, which really, really, you know, bodes well for Liverpool. So, you know, if you've got that, then I'm sure that that compromise can be reached. And it's just a case of thrashing that out over the next few months."
When asked about how long Salah can compete at the top level for before Liverpool's 4-0 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, Slot highlighted the exploits of a 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo and 37-year-old Lionel Messi, who are still enjoying hot streaks for Al-Nassr and Inter Miami respectively.
Could Salah's contract become Liverpool's priority?
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Salah turns 33 next June but is showing no signs of slowing down in a Liverpool kit, as he set up two of the Reds' goals against Leverkusen to take his total for the season to nine goals and nine assists in just 16 games in all tournaments.
However, it has been suggested that renewals for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk - both also due to become free agents in 2025 - should take priority over a new deal for Salah, and Lynch believes that the former's contract should still top the list, especially with Salah apparently unwilling to take a hit on his wages.
"I think the big worry from Liverpool's perspective, and I kind of feel bad talking about this because you're almost like doing down Mo Salah or saying it's not important that he stays. I mean, he's an absolutely unbelievable, world-class player and has been for years and years," Lynch added when asked if Salah's situation could become the priority.
"I think if you're Liverpool and you're looking at it, a three-year contract isn't just three years' time as well. It's four years' time essentially because we're in the very start of the season. He gets to the end of that, then another three years.
"It seems crazy to me to think that even in another couple of years' time, you'll still be hitting these numbers and Liverpool don't want to kind of trap themselves in a bad contract that will really impact them on the pitch because if you pay Mo Salah that and he isn't scoring at the level he is at the moment, he isn't assisting, he isn't that crucial to you, it's a wage you can't give to someone else to do that job for you.
"So it's difficult decisions that you've got to make. I see what you're saying about in terms of him pushing himself up as a priority, but I just think for Liverpool, the number one priority is always going to be Trent because there's no doubt over what he's going to offer over the next few years. You're looking at his peak years. He's a local lad and future captain. That has to be number one priority, I think.
'Salah has started to tail off in the back end of seasons'
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"You can argue and kind of split hairs over the two after that in Van Dijk and Salah and it is difficult, but I just think the thing that's always going to hang over the Salah one is the size of his wage packet and the fact he isn't going to take a wage cut. That's what makes that really tricky and is maybe the reason why it might be left to last. But we'll see how it plays out.
"I still think there's this chance for compromise there. I still think there's because there's that desire from the player's side and Liverpool obviously won't want to give themselves the headache of having to find Mo Salah's goals for next season because I think there's a bare minimum you can say he's at least going to be this much of a threat for the next season.
"But there are things they also have to consider, as I say, his age, when the decline is going to happen. He's got AFCON next season and also I would mention in the last few years he's tended to slightly tail off in the back end of seasons. He started really well and on fire but not quite scored as many in the last part of the season.
"So Liverpool have also got to kind of factor that in as well and how they manage his minutes and whether they can counteract that. But it's a tricky one and you just hope that they can find that compromise and at the very least he's here for another couple of seasons."
Al-Ittihad memorably failed with a last-ditch £150m offer to buy Salah at the end of the summer 2023 window, but the ex-Roma and Chelsea man is still thought to be one of the Saudi Pro League's most sought-after targets given his iconic status in the Middle East.
Al-Hilal - who currently employ Neymar, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic among others - are thought to be at the head of the queue for Salah's signature this time around, although none of Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum or Roberto Firmino have excelled in Saudi Arabia since leaving Liverpool.
'Liverpool cannot have an Ozil, Sanchez situation with Salah'
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Lynch believes that the trio's experiences in the Middle East demonstrate Liverpool's good knowledge of when to move players on, but he has warned the Reds against repeating Arsenal's mistakes with Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the former and latter of whom failed to perform under extortionate wages and had their deals terminated.
"I think as well it's just important to sort of think about it sometimes from the Liverpool perspective. It's so easy for us to fall into the trap and kind of get emotional about it and think you cannot let this guy go," Lynch addd.
"After that goal goes in against Brighton, I'm very much thinking similarly. But I also understand what Liverpool have to do here and how they have to protect themselves.
"People get angry when you get a situation like Fabinho falling off a cliff and then, you know, they got uneasy out with that one in terms of offloading to Saudi and maybe that that route is there for them with Mo Salah by the way but you can't guarantee that and you've got to be very careful. You don't want to end up with an Ozil situation and Alexis Sanchez, someone who just you're paying a ridiculous wage to and he suddenly just go like that and it can happen suddenly. That's the thing.
"Fabinho is the biggest proof of that. Jordan Henderson did similar. He just went from being top level to just falling off a cliff and that is what Liverpool will not want and so you've got to be very careful about it.
"As much as we take the emotion out of it, it's a far trickier decision and I think we do sometimes just have to acknowledge that that is the case. I think one thing Liverpool have been good at better than a lot of rivals in in terms of the transfer aspect is not having those underperforming players on massive wages. You can't have it all Liverpool.
Lynch questions longevity of Saudi "cash cow" amid Salah uncertainty
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"We want to see Salah performing in a Liverpool shirt as long as possible but yeah the club are rightly probably averse to a bit of risk with that because they've seen what has happened with other players. I wonder is there the possibility of maybe giving him the three-year one with the thought of selling him for a bit more money than you would be able to otherwise in one or two years. I don't know if that's an option.
"But I saw a story the other day about the PIF withdrawing a little bit of their investment in that as well or lessening it over the coming years. How long is that kind of cash cow going to exist? How is that going to play out? We already saw a lessening of it last summer in comparison to the summer before that really in terms of how many players moved over there and how much money was spent. So Salah's maybe a different case because he's this Arab icon, isn't he? And surely that desire will always be there.
"But as I say, Liverpool might not feel that that guarantee is there and might worry about that and that as I say is a factor. But they've been generally pretty good at judging this in terms of you think some of the players that have left on free transfers in recent years; Firmino's not really, you know, pulling up any trees in Saudi Arabia, Jorginho, Wijnaldum didn't do anything after that. [Sadio] Mane went with a year left on his contract, but that proved to be a good decision because he didn't do much at Bayern, for example.
"So he tended to be pretty good at judging this. But, you know, with Salah, it would be a shock if he left this time, you know, in the summer coming and then didn't produce goals because he's still doing it at this higher level. And again, you know, one thing that's in his mind as well is that he wants to continue playing at this highest level.
"So, again, Liverpool can probably leverage that in negotiations and, you know, it is confrontational and we will be butting heads at the moment and that is all part of it. But that, you know, it just gives you a chance to think that maybe that he can find that compromise. But we will see how that plays out."
Salah recently moved above Reds legend Robbie Fowler into eighth place on the Premier League all-time top scorers list, now boasting 164 goals in the top flight of English football, and he needs just 12 more to eclipse legendary Arsenal striker Thierry Henry.
