Speaking on Off The Ball, Mark Lawrenson has been discussing Mohamed Salah’s contract situation and how it could affect the rest of the Liverpool squad.
The Egyptian is heading into the final year of his contract at Anfield, and it seems as though negotiations are at something of a stalemate.
Salah reportedly wants to be paid top dollar to stay on Merseyside, but according to Lawrenson, giving Salah what he wants could cause issues with both Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk.
What’s been said?
Lawrenson spoke about Salah’s situation.
“Salah wants £400,000-a-week and he’s not going to get it. Well, he might. Mane is going to cause ructions if he does,” Lawrenson said.
“They don’t want to give him that much money do they? If you give him £400,000-a-week who will be the first to knock at the door? Probably van Dijk and then it will be Mane as well. Van Dijk’s contract is not up, but he’ll be thinking ‘hang on a minute’ and Mane is the next one in terms of contracts, it’s like a can of worms. I know they’ve made him a really good offer and Mo obviously thinks that it’s not good enough.”
Delicate situation
As Lawrenson says, giving Salah this bumper deal could open a can of worms at Liverpool.
Think about it, if Salah is paid £400k-a-week then Mane and Van Dijk would be well within their rights to ask for a similar pay packet.
Yes, Salah is arguably the Player of the Year in the Premier League, but when it comes to contributions in big games, Mane is Liverpool’s main man, while the whole system would likely collapse without Van Dijk – as we saw last year.
Liverpool need to tread very carefully with Salah’s contract.
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