Mohamed Salah is giving Liverpool a very clear transfer message, as his contract stance is revealed

After seemingly pledging his future to Liverpool for the upcoming season, Mohamed Salah is now in the final year of his contract.

As Mohamed Salah approaches the last year of his contract, Liverpool and the Egyptian could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of déjà vu.

Only two years had passed since the Reds had concluded months of rumours and months of talks to guarantee the forward’s future. After agreeing to a three-year agreement, the team awarded Salah the highest paid player in history. An agreement of this kind, which is estimated to be worth about £350,000 per week, was highly rewarded with goal and assist incentives that brought the total closer to £400,000.

Salah has made 95 appearances since agreeing to such an extension while on vacation in Mykonos, where he has contributed 29 assists and 55 goals. Although he battled a hamstring injury in the second half of the 2023–24 season and struggled with form, it’s reasonable to say the 31-year-old has given the team his money’s worth.

However, as Salah approaches the last year of his contract once more, Liverpool finds itself in a familiar situation as they consider their options for perhaps negotiating another deal. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s financial interest further complicates things.

Last summer, Al-Ittihad made a verbal £150 million bid for the Egypt captain, but the Saudi Pro League teams are anticipated to scout around again if there is any indication that the player is considering moving on.

But last week, shortly after Arne Slot was officially named the team’s new head coach, Salah appeared to pledge his future to the Reds for an additional season on social media.

Salah wrote, “We will do everything in our power to ensure that next season’s trophies are what matter.” “We will fight like hell because our fans deserve it.”

Thus, it was later reported in The Telegraph that the Saudi Pro League was now prepared to bide their time until 2025 in an effort to get Salah to leave on a free transfer. Additionally, Saudi Pro League chief football officer Michael Emenalo expressed interest in Liverpool’s Egyptian King again in an interview that was published on Tuesday with the same media outlet.

Some would argue it makes sense for the Reds to sell this summer while they can still fetch a fee, given that Salah will turn 32 next month and missed two months of the current campaign due to injury. After all, Saudi interest has altered the market, allowing aged celebrities whose contracts are about to expire to still be sold for a healthy price.

Salah has won every major award in his 349 appearances and scored 211 goals and 87 assists in his seven years at Anfield. However, there is a counterargument that he may be eligible for another contract extension and that it is too soon to cash in. For mitigating reasons, Salah did not perform to his normal high standards during the second half of the previous season; yet, he is still Liverpool’s most dangerous forward and the team’s best player.

His performance in the first few months of the new campaign will either support or contradict this assertion, depending on how the club choose to handle its most well-known player. While the Saudi Pro League waits to see if Salah is ready to test the player’s, if not the club’, commitment, he begins to navigate the last year of his contract and moves closer to a potential Bosman exit in 2025.

What then makes Liverpool’s business model the most sensible? Even though Salah might end up leaving for free, would his efforts in the Premier League and Champions League in 2024–2025 be more valuable? Of course, a sizable offer this summer could be alluring. Could he continue to perform at such a high level long enough to warrant another hefty contract extension in the interim?

Salah would respond in the affirmative, claiming the highest level of confidence, as seen by his most recent incentive extension, in which he backed himself to initially replicate his level from the preceding five years. However, the Reds’ data scientists would have to make the final decision.

In fairness, most of the contemporary Liverpool icons under Jurgen Klopp, who have won both the Premier League and the Champions League, have already departed the team. Although it may be argued that some Anfield residents stayed too long, no one has expressed remorse or suggested that any left too soon.

Club executives thought Salah’s most recent contract extension, which ran through 2025, still fell within the former Chelsea player’s “peak years.” A position like that would imply that the Reds were not expecting a drop in performance just yet, and that another extension is conceivable.

In 2022, Salah publicly stated that he was not interested in being traded. At the time, it was thought that he had expressed his preference to either go on a free transfer or renew his contract.

Such a stance seems to be unwavering in light of his most recent social media revelation, in which he seemingly pledged his future to Liverpool for a another season. If this is the case, Salah would seem to sign another agreement or depart for free in 2025 as a summer exit seems unlikely.