Why Liverpool letting go of Mohamed Salah at end of season would be a bad move for Arne Slot

Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah’s future at Premier League giants Liverpool has been a talking point of late, more so ever since Arne Slot took charge as the Reds’ boss ahead of the 2024-25 season. Salah, whose contract with the club will expire at the end of the 2024-25 season, has remained a pivotal part of Liverpool since arriving at Anfield from AS Roma in 2017

He has led the club to UEFA Champions League (2018-19) and English Premier League (2019-20) titles. Seven years since joining Liverpool, Salah has not showed any signs of slowing down. His latest exploits came during Liverpool's 2-0 win over Bologna in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, where he scored one goal and assisted another.

Is Arne Slot making a mistake by possibly showing the door to Salah?

There have been speculations about Salah’s potential move to Saudi Arabia next year, but the 32-year-old has often expressed his interest in extending his Liverpool stay. However, the problem is that neither the Liverpool club management nor manager Arne Slot are looking forward to extending Salah’s contract. In fact, Slot recently said that while Salah had done “really well” in Liverpool’s win over Bologna, he wasn’t “looking forward to next season”.

“Mo has done really well today, and I’m happy with the way he does at the moment, and I’m not looking forward to next season,” the Dutchman had said.

While this comment from Slot seems to suggest that Liverpool are not thinking of extending Salah’s contract just yet, letting go of a superstar like Salah may not be a good move strategically. Let’s take his 2024-25 stats into consideration. Salah has played seven matches across all competitions and has scored five goals and assisted another six goals.

Slot had taken over as Liverpool manager from Jurgen Klopp earlier this year. Klopp is someone who guided the Reds to their first Premier League title in 30 years and brought the club back to where they belong. Slot recently said that he hoped to be remembered for “special things”. “It does say a lot about how Jurgen (Klopp) left this club. The squad I inherited, the work rate the players put in and how much the staff is helping me to get these results. But I hope to be remembered for more special things than winning eight out of the first nine (games).”

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s central figure

Talking about inheriting the squad, this is a squad that won the Premier League and Champions League titles in the last half a decade, and the same squad that has been challenging Manchester City and Arsenal when it comes to Premier League title races. Salah has been Liverpool’s central figure for quite a while now, and maybe, the Reds should look to keep Salah at the club for as long as possible.

Take Manchester City for example. Will they let go of Erling Haaland? Or will Arsenal part ways with Bukayo Saka? Of course, one cannot forget the error that Erik ten Hag and Manchester United made with Cristiano Ronaldo. Having thought that Ronaldo was the obstacle at Manchester United, they let go of the Portugal international, hoping that Manchester United would do better without Ronaldo.

And while Ronaldo continues to impress at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, United are struggling to find consistency at the top level. Arne Slot and his Liverpool team may not want to go through something that their rivals Manchester United have.