Revealed: How Mohamed Salah convinced Liverpool to hand him new contract – with Egyptian superstar generating transfer talk again as Anfield deal runs down

Liverpool’s former director of research has revealed how Mohamed Salah changed his opinion and earned a new contract with the Reds.

Last extension signed in 2022

Data helped to secure those terms

Heading towards free agency

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Egyptian superstar penned his latest deal at Anfield back in the summer of 2022. He is now into the final 12 months of those terms and generating exit talk once again – with transfer interest said to have been shown from the Saudi Pro League.

WHAT DATE ANALYST SAID

Salah appears set to stick around for now, as questions are asked of his future, with Dr Ian Graham telling the Liverpool Echo of how he came to the conclusion that a lucrative offer should be tabled four years ago: “Some of the last work I did was about Salah's longevity. How long can he keep producing for? And I fully I went into the analysis fully expecting to say, now is the time to sell. This would have been summer ‘21 or ‘22, I can't remember. But yeah, to my surprise, it was Mo is going to keep producing for a couple of years and you can't replace Mo’s level of performance. If you replace Mo, you're replacing with a younger player who might get to Mo's level in a couple of years. Or if you want to replace what Mo does today, you tell me, a player who's going to replace what Mo Salah has done for Liverpool since 2017.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Quizzed on whether he would be offering similar advice in 2024, with Salah still key to Liverpool’s plans, Graham added: “It was a privilege working for Liverpool, but it was also a huge responsibility as well. And I'm really enjoying the fact that that responsibility is not on my shoulders anymore. So I'm just watching Liverpool as a fan today. I don't care about finances. My opinion as a fan, I want to see Mo Salah in Red for as long as possible, but I understand if that's not the best decision and I trust the decision-makers at Liverpool to make the right decision.”

WHAT NEXT?

Salah was on target in Liverpool’s 2024-25 season opener against newly-promoted Ipswich, as Arne Slot’s reign as manager started with a 2-0 win. The three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner now has 212 efforts to his name through 350 total appearances for the Reds.