Former Liverpool star Jamie Redknapp says he would be “amazed” if Mohamed Salah sees out the rest of his contract at Anfield, with the Egyptian’s relationship with the club reaching a “breaking point.”
The Sky Sports pundit even suggested Salah could leave as early as January after he was benched again for Sunderland’s visit. In April this year, Salah signed a new contract with Liverpool, extending his stay on Merseyside to 2027.
The new deal followed one of Salah’s most successful campaigns at the club. He played a pivotal role in Liverpool winning the Premier League last season, scoring 29 goals and registering 18 assists in 38 league games. However, the Egyptian’s form appears to have sharply dipped this term.
It isn’t just the 33-year-old who has struggled. Much of Arne Slot’s squad has yet to find their feet, putting the Dutchman under pressure after a poor run of results.
But with Salah having been someone Liverpool fans could rely on for so many years, his dip in form has led to him being dropped from Slot’s last two games, including Wednesday’s clash with Sunderland. Redknapp believes their relationship is now at a pivotal point and is concerned Salah and Liverpool could be set for an acrimonious split.
“He’s a Premier League great, a Liverpool great and that’s why I don’t think this is going to end well,” he said on Sky Sports. “It will be a difficult situation now because the manager, when you’ve got someone who is so good, so important to the team, in and around the dressing room and how they react and act in training.
“He’s not going to want to be on the bench, he hasn’t signed this contract to see his career out. He wants to play week in, week out.
“I’ll be amazed if he sees out the last two years of his contract, or year and a half. I don’t think this helps the situation one bit. Nothing will surprise me in football — whether it’s in January or maybe in the summer.
“If the right club was to come around… a lot will be decided by this man. He’s earned that right. And if he says: ‘Look, if I’m not going to be a starter for you, I’m not one of those players who is going to hang around. I will go wherever it takes.’ I still feel he will want to play in Europe.
“The first thing we’re all going to say is he’ll go to Saudi — he’s obviously a legend in that part of the world — or he’ll want to go to the US, but this for me now is a real breaking point in the relationship.
“He’ll feel let down and, like you say, maybe even blamed for what’s going on. But while the team is winning without him… I saw those stats and they’re pretty good when he doesn’t play.
“No one is indispensable, time waits for no one, and it’s going to be difficult now.”
Liverpool’s 2-0 win over West Ham showed signs of a squad revival. Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal for the Reds, and Florian Wirtz produced an impressive performance.
Slot admitted earlier this week that Salah was unhappy at being benched against West Ham and revealed how he reacted to Wednesday’s decision. Speaking ahead of the match, he said: “We didn’t have a long conversation, this time and also not the one before West Ham. We spoke a lot after the Frankfurt game and now not as much as that time.
“I think he reacts like you want a top professional to react and that is he trained really hard and good the day after the game at West Ham and trained good yesterday, he’s really positive towards his team-mates.
“In that sense, he’s an example, he’s been an example to all those players when he plays and now he’s an example when he doesn’t play.”
For the latest news and breaking news, visit liverpoolecho.co.uk/all-about/liverpool-fc. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
Follow us on Twitter @LivEchoLFC – the official Liverpool ECHO LFC Twitter account – for all the latest LFC news as it happens in real time.
We’re also on Facebook/LiverpoolEchoLFC – your must-see LFC news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Liverpool ECHO.
