Liverpool and Arne Slot would be mad to think about selling Mo Salah in January
From his vantage point in the Liverpool dugout, Mohamed Salah must have looked out and wondered if he has been made some sort of scapegoat. Four points from the two matches which Salah has not started is a decent return for decision-maker Arne Slot, but the performances have not exactly been exhilarating.
They have been fairly pedestrian both in the win at an uninspired West Ham United and in the home draw against Sunderland. Slot’s decision to keep Salah out of the starting line-up for the latest match was the correct one. Absolutely.
While the win at the London Stadium was indeed a touch pedestrian, it was a win, and the team looked balanced and more unlikely to concede. And as a strong likelihood of conceding has been a severe issue for Slot this season, that was a relief for him.
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But the initial decision to leave Salah out was a harsh one. He was dropped after the hammering by PSV Eindhoven at Anfield and his involvement in the second of the Dutch side’s four goals was widely highlighted and criticised.
Mauro Junior went past Salah and the Egyptian did not bother chasing the PSV man. That is okay when you and your team are having stellar seasons but not when you are losing matches for fun. But even so, Salah might have thought he was unfairly singled out.
Slot said Salah took his demotion with the utmost professionalism and no-one would doubt that claim. But Jamie Redknapp’s comments after the draw with Sunderland were extremely interesting.
Redknapp is still well-connected at Anfield and said: “He (Salah) will feel let down and … even blamed for what is going on. I will be amazed if he sees out the last two years of his contract, or year and a half. Nothing will surprise me in football - whether it is January or maybe in the summer.”
If Redknapp says Salah will feel let down, there is a good chance Salah IS feeling let down. If you were a betting type, you would have the mortgage on Salah, who came on for the second half against Sunderland, being restored to the starting line-up for the game at Leeds United on Saturday evening.
And my money has always been - and still is - on Salah showing us he remains a game-changer, remains a phenomenal attacking force, remains a one-off talent. After a career remarkable for, among other things, his incredible appearance record, Salah should benefit from the odd break but the suggestions from behind the scenes at Anfield is that he does not see it that way.
And that means a dilemma at Anfield is incoming. If a Saudi Arabian club, with the most likely being Al Hilal, table a big offer for a player who turns 34 in June, will the Liverpool board be tempted to accept. The answer to that is probably yes.
A conservative estimate of the cost to Liverpool of the remainder of Salah’s contract would be in the region of £31million. Let’s say a Saudi club was willing to pay in the region of £70million for Salah, that would give the club a lot of money to look for a replacement.
For his part, Salah’s pride would not let him stay at a club that was prepared to move him on. But from a footballing point of view, Liverpool would be taking a false step if they agreed to a sale of Salah in January.
Reassess the situation next summer, by all means, but Liverpool will have Champions League challenges - not to mention a fight to finish in the Premier League’s top four - after the January window and to go into those without the current Footballer of the Year would be madness. Redknapp is right when he says “everything comes to an end” but the end for Liverpool and Salah has not arrived yet.
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