Mohamed Salah has offered a fresh hint about his Liverpool future ahead of the Reds’ trip to Man City
Mohamed Salah made all the headlines when Liverpool last travelled to Manchester. The Egyptian twice set up Luis Diaz before scoring himself as the Reds ran out dominant 3-0 winners over Manchester United.
But while his performance that day at Old Trafford back in September was most impressive, he set tongues wagging even further when speaking about his future after the full-time whistle.
The 32-year-old remains out of contract at the end of the season and has publicly admitted more than once that he would prefer to agree new terms at Anfield. However, after beating United, he conceded that he was approaching the game as though it could be his last appearance for Liverpool at Old Trafford.
To be fair I was coming to the game it could be the last time [playing at Old Trafford],” he told Sky Sports. “Nobody in the club has talked to me about contracts. It is not up to me, nobody talked to me from the club but we will see.”
Salah also offered a similar message after scoring and assisting in the Reds’ 2-0 win over Man City back in December.
“Honestly, it’s in my head. Until now this is the last City game I will play for Liverpool so I was just going to enjoy it,” he told Sky Sports. “The atmosphere was incredible so I will enjoy every second here. Hopefully we just win the league and will see what will happen.”
However, now with just four months left on his contract and free to agree a pre-contract agreement with overseas clubs, Salah has ever so subtly changed his tune.
Sure, he is still focused on winning the Premier League. He has made no secret of that throughout the campaign, and, leading both the Golden Boot and Playmaker charts with 24 goals and 15 assists, feels almost on a one-man mission to win a second league title with Liverpool.
But ahead of facing Man City at the Etihad on Sunday, with his future more unclear than ever, Salah now insists he is not concerned by whether this could prove to be his last ever clash with the Reds’ long-running title-rivals.
“Sunday may be your last game against Man City, is it a bit more special for you for that?” he was asked by Premier League Productions.
“To be fair, I don’t know. I just feel like my whole focus now is to win the Premier League,” the Egyptian replied. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the last game or not the last game, we will see.”
In just under four months, Salah is no longer concerned about whether he will face Liverpool’s rivals again. Read into that what you will.
On one hand, it could suggest added confidence that he will agree new terms. But on the other, it could mean he feels he is closer to the exit door than ever before.
Or perhaps, as the Premier League title-race prepares for its run-in, the forward is putting talk of his future to a side, not willing to risk jeopardising his side’s hopes of being crowned Premier League champions in any way by creating further speculation as the stakes get higher and higher.
Either way, Salah’s change of response is certainly intriguing as the speculation surrounding his future continues.
To his credit, it has not been a distraction on the pitch at any point during the current campaign, with the forward boasting 29 goals and 20 assists from just 37 appearances in all competitions. He is the current favourite to win this season’s Ballon d’Or as a result.
While any comment about his future makes headlines, Salah is continuing to do his talking on the pitch. With Liverpool challenging for the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup this season, regardless of whether he is indeed navigating his final months at Anfield or not, long may that continue.
