Mohamed Salah: Liverpool know what I want – I’m not asking for crazy stuff
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Paul Joyce, Northern Football Correspondent
Tuesday January 11 2022, 10.30am, The Times
Liverpool Football Club
Football
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Salah has 18 months to run on his deal at Anfield
CATHERINE IVILL/GETTY IMAGES
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Mohamed Salah has further increased the pressure on Liverpool to reach an agreement over a new contract after insisting that he is not demanding “crazy stuff” during negotiations.
The striker delivered his latest public pronouncement on his future by reiterating that he hopes to extend his existing deal, which expires in the summer of 2023, but that the situation was in the hands of the club’s owner, Fenway Sports Group.
“I want to stay, but it’s not in my hands, it’s in their hands,” Salah said in an
interview with GQ magazine. “They know what I want. I’m not asking for crazy stuff.”
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In an interview with GQ, Salah said a new contract with Liverpool was in the hands of the club’s hierarchy
FANNY LATOUR-LAMBERT
Discussions with Salah and his representative, Ramy Abbas Issa, started prior to this season but have so far been unable to reach an accord.
Liverpool recognise that they will have to make Salah the highest-paid player in the club’s history, with the forward having scored 23 goals this season to continue his blistering form since signing from Roma in 2017.
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Yet while Salah does not believe his contract demands are excessive, there is clearly a different train of thought at Anfield that has so far prevented new terms from being finalised.
Salah, who is 30 in June but rarely misses a game through injury for Liverpool, said it was not about money but recognition of what he has contributed on the pitch.
“The thing is, when you ask for something and they show you they can give you something, they should,” said Salah, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, who face Nigeria in their opening match of the competition today.
“Because they appreciate what you did for the club. I’ve been here for my fifth year now. I know the club very well. I love the fans. The fans love me. But with the administration, they have [been] told the situation. It’s in their hands.”
Liverpool agreed new contracts with a number of players in the summer, including Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Alisson Becker and Trent Alexander-Arnold. In addition to Salah, Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita also have 18 months on their existing deals.
In a wide-ranging interview, Salah discussed quitting Chelsea, for whom he signed from Basle in January 2014 ahead of Liverpool. Salah seldom featured under José Mourinho, who was the Chelsea manager at the time, and said: “It was so tough for me, mentally. I couldn’t handle the pressure I had from the media, coming from outside. I was not playing that much. I felt, ‘No, I need to go.’ ”
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The GQ Global Sports Issue cover
FANNY LATOUR-LAMBERT
The transformation in his status since then has been nothing short of remarkable. He has helped Liverpool to win the Champions League and the Premier League and is fuelled by a desire to be viewed as the best player in the world.
“If you asked me if this was a drive for me to be here? Yeah, of course,” Salah said. “I can’t really lie and say honestly I didn’t think about it. No, I think about it. I want to be the best player in the world. But I will have a good life even if I don’t win [the Ballon d’Or]. My life is OK, everything is fine.”
Isn't he lovely?