Should Liverpool Sell Mo Salah?

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Mo Salah tore through the Manchester City defence with skill, pace and balance that saw him labelled by many as the best player in the world. Although this sentiment was far from unanimous, Salah did follow it up with a similar magical goal against Watford in his very next game and his numbers since signing for Liverpool make any comparison with with a certain Belgian almost laughable. However, there is no doubt that something has been missing from Salah’s game in recent months and it’s an issue that has some fans worried and others ready to cash in.

With just 12 goals and seven assists from his 28 Premier League appearances Salah is on track for his least productive campaign in a reds shirt.  While this is still a solid return for a forward playing in a team performing as badly as Liverpool there’s no doubting that the goals have dried up and, more alarmingly, so has the all around threat that he once offered. This was summed up by his breakaway chance against Manchester City last week when he slowed up, looked indecisive and allowed Jack Grealish to get back and cover any potential danger.

Of course Mo Salah isn’t the only player failing to perform. But this particular dip didn’t start with the Liverpool downfall of 2022/23 as the Egyptian international has not been the same since his adventures in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. His touch has not been as assured, his decision making slow and we simply haven’t seen enough of him terrorising defenders before cutting in on his left foot and burying chances in the bottom corner. For some strange reason it seems the spark has been extinguished.

There were also the photos of Salah having dinner with PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi that annoyed a certain section of fans. And it’s this culmination of things that have many people questioning if it’s time to cash in on the winger while we can and use the money as part of Jurgen Klopps summer rebuild.

While this may make some sense on paper the reality of replacing of Mo Salah and what he brings to the table is not as simple as throwing money at it. The main objective of football is to score more goals than the opposition and if you have a player that can guarantee over 20 a season then you have to hold on to them at all costs. Salah still has 23 goals and 11 assists in all competitions while under performing by his high standards. Compare this to the the high flying Arsenal star Bukayo Saka who has just 13 goals and 10 assists in a team that looks set to win the Premier League and you will see that Mo Salah is almost irreplaceable.

Not only will his goals be important for Liverpool as they look to bounce from this terrible run of form but they will also need his name to help attract potential transfer targets. More importantly they will want an experienced head who can lead by example both on and off the pitch and who is better at that than Mo Salah?