 "Mohamed Salah said he may leave Liverpool at the end of the season. Reuters")
Mohamed Salah hinted this will be his final season at Liverpool after scoring his 15th goal against Manchester United in a resounding 3-0 win for the visitors at Old Trafford on Sunday. Salah has less than a year left to run on his contract at Anfield and said no discussions have taken place with the club on extending his deal.
The Egyptian has written himself into the record books of the English giants, scoring 214 goals since joining in 2017.
“I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive because as you know it’s my last year at the club,” Salah told Sky Sports. “I just want to enjoy it and I don’t want to think about it. I feel like I’m free to play football and then we’ll see what happens next year.”
Salah set up two goals for Luis Diaz before extending his record as the top goalscorer in meetings between United and Liverpool by scoring for the seventh consecutive game at Old Trafford.
“To be fair I was coming to the game, it could be the last time (playing at Old Trafford),” he said.
“Nobody in the club has talked to me about contracts. It is not up to me, it is up to the club.”
Salah signed a three-year deal in 2022 that reportedly made him the highest paid player in the club’s history, worth more than £18 million ($24 million) a year.
But he has been consistently linked with a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League.
A year ago Liverpool reportedly rejected a bid of £150 million from Al-Ittihad.
The 32-year-old is just one of three major Liverpool players out of contract at the end of the season, along with captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
However, on the field all is well for the Reds as new manager Arne Slot has made a serene start to the daunting task of replacing Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool have won their first three Premier League games without conceding to sit behind Manchester City at the top of the table on goals scored.
“It’s a great result. Everyone knows it’s very important for the city and for the fans – and for the manager with his first game in here,” added Salah.
“We’re so happy for the result. If you want to fight for the league this is the sort of game you need to win. I’m glad we managed to win it.
“The manager likes us to press high. We scored from all those situations.
“There’s not a big difference from Jurgen at the start and in time we’ve changed the system a little with the way we play. We’re adapting.”
Slot refuses to speak on Salah
Slot refused to be drawn on whether this will definitely be Salah’s farewell season and how the Reds can possibly go around replacing him.
“It’s a lot of if, but for the moment he is one of ours, and I’m really, really happy with him being one of ours,” said Slot.
“I don’t talk about contracts in front of players, but I can talk for hours about how well he played today.”
Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag said he is no “Harry Potter” to magic up quick fixes for Manchester United after a demoralising home defeat.
Ten Hag under pressure at United
The Dutchman is already under pressure just three games into the new Premier League season after also losing 2-1 last weekend at Brighton.
A shock FA Cup final win over Manchester City in May helped keep Ten Hag in his job despite finishing eighth last season – United’s lowest ever Premier League finish.
The former Ajax boss was even handed a contract extension and backed with a £200 million ($262 million) spend on new players during the transfer window.
But hope of a new dawn has not lasted at Old Trafford as Liverpool strolled to victory in Arne Slot’s first major test since replacing Jurgen Klopp.
“It’s not like I’m Harry Potter, that is what you have to acknowledge,” Ten Hag said in his post-match press conference.
“We just had a third game in the season, again we have to build a new team.
“We will build this new team, we have young players, also we have now players to build in the season. Today we had two or three players that didn’t start of the season and they didn’t play 90 minutes.
“We will be fine. It’s clear we have to improve, but at the end of the season I’m quite confident that we will have a big chance to lift another trophy.”
In one of the most glaring hallmarks of United’s struggles last season, Casemiro was the fall guy for Liverpool’s first two goals.
The Brazilian twice lost possession before Luis Diaz fired home and the five-time Champions League winner was replaced at half-time by 20-year-old Toby Collyer.
“I think that in football everyone has to take responsibility,” added Ten Hag on whether he can continued to field Casemiro given the five-time Champions League winner’s decline.
“He’s a great character. He has won everything in his career. I’m sure he will keep contributing to our team.
“Casemiro is always winning, so he will be there.”
United have not even challenged to win the Premier League in the 11 years since legendary former manager Alex Ferguson retired.
Another season fighting for other silverware already appears the best that they can hope for with a six-point deficit to Liverpool and defending champions City.
“It hurts, especially for our fans,” said Ten Hag.
“We have to be humble, we have to give the compliments to Liverpool and we have to move on.”