Salah contract renewal should be the club's top priority
With only one year left on his current deal, renewing the Egyptian's contract is of utmost importance. We look at three reasons why it's so crucial that he stays, and why the club stand to gain so much from his continuing involvement.
Sheer output
Mohamed Salah signed for Liverpool FC in 2017 - 214 goals, 90 assists and seven years later, he is still producing goal contributions.
The 32-year-old's consistency in competitions like the Premier League and the Champions League is simply remarkable when you look at the numbers. The graph below shows his total goals and assists in all competitions since 2017.
Apart from his exceptional outlier of a debut season, Salah has maintained a steady stream of goal contributions during his time at Anfield. Across system changes and injuries to the squad, he has been arguably the most consistent player in the team.
When his goals dried up somewhat in the title-winning 19/20 season, he replaced them with a healthy tally of 13 assists. The following season, he turned the tables, bagging his second-highest haul of 31 goals and notching only six assists.
He stands alone at these heights. Former team-mates Mané and Firmino registered 162 and 186 goal involvements respectively, which, although hugely impressive, pales in comparison to Salah's total stash of 306 goal contributions.
Although the 32-year-old is not getting any younger, he offers a constant attacking threat and guarantees an end product. If he departed, the team would have to fill a huge void in the front line.
Adapting to a new role
As shown by his uptick in assists since 2020, the Egyptian has proved that he can evolve as a player. The days of his surging runs up-field on the counter may be drawing to a close, but he can still offer so much as a creator.
In lieu of huge goal hauls, Salah is now showing his ability to assist chances and goals. While his total assists dropped by three last season, it's reasonable to put this down to the wastefulness of his team-mates in the six-yard box.
This is because he registered, according to Understat, 12.33 expected assists last campaign, an all-time-high. He also made 2.32 passes per match which led to a shot, which is his highest since coming to Anfield.
He has started this season in the same vein, registering three assists in the first three games of the season. With Salah embracing this creative role, he protects himself somewhat against the creeping impact of age, which has diminished the numbers of so many goalscorers across the years.
Lack of options in the market
If Salah should leave, there are not many players in the market that could replace him. Premier League regulars Saka and Palmer have performed fantastically in the past couple of seasons, but they would be impossible to pry away from their clubs, and would incur a huge transfer fee.
Players such as Bowen and Mbeumo are more attainable, and could fit the profile for a Salah replacement, but question marks remain over their ability to make the step up to such a high level.
The same can be said for options outside of England. PSG's Barcola has huge potential, but he recently signed for the French giants. Rodrygo could be an option, with his displacement from the Real Madrid starting XI, but the Galactico would not be cheap.
Even if the club did identify a couple of targets, the recent signing of Chiesa makes another signing in that department unlikely. It is far more probable that Chiesa is rotated sporadically with Salah, and, at the age of 26, developed into a future starter.
What with Salah's remarkable consistency, his versatility as a creative player, and the lack of an immediate replacement, the message for Hughes ad Co. should be loud and clear: get the contract sorted out as soon as possible!