Mohamed Salah contract latest: Liverpool forward’s FSG standoff as Arne Slot’s reliance on forward highlighted

Liverpool cannot afford to part company with Mohamed Salah and the club’s contract standoff with the forward cannot go on for much longer, Reds transfer expert David Lynch has argued.

Liverpool drew 3-3 in disappointing fashion against Newcastle United on Wednesday night and had their nine-point advantage at the top of the league reduced to seven.

Salah was still able to play a starring role, scoring twice and registering an assist, and the match was the 37th Premier League fixture in which he has scored and assisted, overtaking Wayne Rooney to become the outright leader in that statistic.

If the attacker were to leave Anfield, Lynch outlined his belief that the Liverpool hierarchy should have to explain the reasons why, telling Sports Mole: “You want to ask the question – what are they hanging about for? But there’s more to it than that and we are always only getting Salah’s side, never the club’s side in terms of does he want a massive pay hike?

“If it did come to a situation with any of the three [Vigil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Salah] leaving, you would like to hear from Richard Hughes an explanation of why that happened.

“[Hughes] should appear to explain what happened there, what the thinking is, what the strategy is to cope if you were to lose someone of the importance of Salah. I think those things need to be spelled out because otherwise you just leave that vacuum there that’s going to be filled with negativity and conspiracy theories.”

With his two goals against Newcastle, Salah took his tally in the Premier League to 13 and overtook Erling Haaland in the scoring charts for 2024-25.

This is a remarkable feat considering the Egyptian is a winger, but he has also managed to create goals at a world class level too, producing eight assists in the top flight so far.

In fact, Salah has contributed to 21 of the Reds’ 29 league goals, a staggering 72.4% of their goals.

Lynch referenced Liverpool’s win against Manchester City as proof of Salah’s brilliance, and reiterated to Sports Mole that the club must keep the winger, saying: “The City game is another reminder of how good he is because Liverpool absolutely batter City in that game. But who sets up the goal with a world-class assist? Who scores the penalties? Obviously, it’s Salah.

“[The Liverpool hierarchy] really need to do something because they can’t afford to lose him for next season. He has to be there. He will be their main source of goals and assists yet again next season, and they have to get it sorted.

“It’s good that he’s putting pressure on them because it shows he’s desperate to stay, and that every single interview he does, he’s making that quite clear to Liverpool.”

Salah vs. FSG

Jamie Carragher criticised Salah following the Egyptians comments to reporters after inspiring a Reds comeback against Southampton on November 24, going as far as to call the forward selfish.

Salah remarked that he was “probably more out than in” when speaking about his contract situation, and Carragher’s response was met with a wave of backlash from fans, highlighting the tension across the club.

Speaking to Sports Mole, Lynch expressed his hope that Liverpool would refrain from briefing against Salah, and avoid fuelling fan backlash, saying: “I don’t want to see in this situation Liverpool briefing against Salah or suggesting – you don’t want those details out there. ‘Oh, he wants this [wage and contract length] and this is why it’s difficult.’

Liverpool can keep the cards close to the chest and I would rather see them operate in that way. It’s totally understandable that Salah does the opposite, by the way, because he’s the one pushing for the contract.

“I still think that Liverpool, they themselves will know they can’t afford to lose him. It’s just too important. So there’s still time left and still hope.”