Liverpool must offer Mohamed Salah a new contract expeditiously

Luís Diaz may have had a quiet performance after subbing on in Liverpool’s exhilarating win at St. Mary’s on Sunday, but the Colombian produced an iconic image after he picked up Mo Salah’s jersey and showed it off triumphantly to a roaring away end.

Liverpool’s Egyptian King received the fifth yellow card of his career for removing his shirt whilst celebrating, this time after rifling home a match-winning penalty against Southampton.

The victory proved to be more difficult than the Reds likely anticipated, but Liverpool displayed the ultimate mark of a championship worthy side–winning by any means necessary.

Elite even when not as his best

Salah likewise may have not even been at his marauding best for the majority of the match, but again, finding a way to score a brace on an off day (and being a few meters away from a hat track) is a characteristic of a world class player; and that is exactly who Mo Salah is.

Now eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table just 12 matches into the season, Liverpool have established themselves as true champion hopefuls, and Mo Salah has been the Reds’ most crucial player in the title charge thus far.

Both the club’s and Salah’s flying starts to the season makes it all the more frustrating that this mutually beneficial relationship is in peril, with Salah informing the media that Liverpool have still not offered him a new contract, saying that he’s likely “more out than in” as things currently stand.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, who are both also in the midst of contract negotiations with the club, are unmistakably two of Liverpool’s best ever players and likewise deserve extensions–but the club must make it their top priority to re-sign Mo Salah above all else.

With ten goals and eight assists in the Premier League in addition to a whopping 22 goal contributions in all competitions so far, Salah continues to bolster his case for being the greatest winger to grace English football.

Salah is setting all the milestones

Salah scored his 100th Premier League goal on the road for the club against Southampton, and only Liverpool icons Ian Rush (161) and Roger Hunt (112) can claim to have scored more away from Anfield.

But Salah’s prolific goal-scoring ability not only stacks up to the best players in club history, but legends for other teams alike.

Thierry Henry is deservedly seen as the most talented attacking player in Premier League history by many fans; Salah needs just nine more league goals to surpass the former Gunner.

But Salah’s impact on the club must be measured beyond just his eye-popping stats.

When asked about his time sharing the pitch with Salah after the match on the South Coast, fellow goalscorer Dominik Szoboszlai said “I hope I play with him for as long as I can.”

While Arne Slot may have inherited a slew of players that Jürgen Klopp managed in his final season, Salah still serves as a sort of bridge between the earlier days of Liverpool’s return to consistent top flight excellence under Klopp and the new regime of emerging players such as Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister.

If Salah were to sign a new contract with the club and play on Merseyside for another two or three seasons before feeling it’s finally time to leave on his own terms, this crop of newer players would be that much more prepared for long term success after learning from playing alongside a perennial talent like Salah.

Supporting the growth of his teammates is a paramount impact Salah could have by staying with the club, but most importantly, his relationship with the fans is an immeasurable factor as well.

“There is no club like this. I love the fans; the fans love me,” Salah said in his aforementioned media appearance.

For lack of a better word, the Egyptian King is worshipped by fans of the Reds, and Fenway Sports Groups’ potential failure to keep him around could further put strain on the dynamic between ownership and the supporters.

“FSG Out” is a movement that scores of Liverpool fans have vocally supported recently, and after a completely static summer transfer window, fans’ patience with the club could wear quite thin.

Sure, he is 32-years old, which is around the age when many athletic titans’ abilities start to fade–but as a certain Argentinian and Portuguese have proven, some players are able to delay the effects of aging, and there is not much more Mo Salah can do to prove that he is worthy of being compensated for his sustained supremacy in the Premier League.