Mohamed Salah produced another superlative performance on Wednesday night to prove that he is worth every penny he is demanding from Liverpool. The two goals against Newcastle United epitomised everything the forward has been for the Reds over the years – a talisman and a saviour.
However, the 32-year-old forward’s relationship with the club hierarchy appears to be strained. He is annoyed that the club are yet to offer him a new deal and is not certain that they will meet his expectations even though a one-year deal will do it for him at this stage.
Salah is already on massive wages and Liverpool are insistent that the new deal must make financial sense to the club. However, the feeling is that the club are unnecessarily penny-pinching given Salah is the best player in the team still and has fitness levels that will put his younger teammates to shame.
The forward’s priority is to stay at Liverpool but his outburst after the Southampton game showed that there is clear frustration at the way the club have dragged their feet in the negotiations.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher criticised the defender for his public statements and termed him selfish for doing so.
Mohamed Salah has the body of a 24-year-old
However, former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt believes Salah deserves sympathy and Liverpool should be questioned because they have allowed the situation to reach this stage.
He stressed that Liverpool cannot treat the forward as another player over 30 as he looks fit as ever and there needs to be a different yardstick given how he has been performing.
Can you name the team Liverpool sold these players to?
The former midfielder insisted that Salah must be feeling betrayed by Liverpool as they have allowed the contract of one of the best players to enter the final seven months.
“I wouldn’t be too critical of Salah”, Butt said on talkSPORT.
“I will be more critical of the club for not sorting it out because he is one of the best players in the world and you are not letting his contract run out?
“Forget the age, look at his body. His age is not the same as his body as his body is probably 24 years of age.
“People are different, look at Ronaldo. What is he? 40? He doesn’t have a body of a 40-year-old.
“You can’t judge everybody the same. You can’t say he is over 30 so we will only give one year as he is different.
“I wouldn’t go out and speak about the contract but people are different. He probably feels betrayed that they haven’t sorted out his contract.”
