Mohamed Salah making a mockery of contract concerns after sending Liverpool clear message
Liverpool and Mohamed Salah face an uncertain future together as the player's contract winds down but the stats show the Egyptian forward is as determined as ever despite his age
Mohamed Salah's stats are through the roof in the opening weeks of the season as speculation swirls over his future at Liverpool.
The record-breaking forward was on target once again in the team's rampant win over Manchester United on Sunday. After three games he has notched on three occasions as the prolific Egyptian continues to showcase what he's all about.
Liverpool have allowed Salah to enter the final 12 months of his deal and one of the greatest players in the club's history could now leave for nothing when next summer comes around. The forward, at 32, shows no sign of slowing down but landing a bumper new deal at his age is tricky.
Clubs are loathed to invest in assets that could soon be on the decline - but Salah's numbers show anything but is happening. Having played his entire Anfield career under Jurgen Klopp the forward is adapting nicely to life under Arne Slot with plenty of his KPIs - especially off the ball - proving he remains in peak condition.
We saw, as with Cristiano Ronaldo, how wingers can often convert themselves into penalty box poachers as their careers grow older and their pace begins to leave them. Salah is the opposite.
Comparing his stats across the last four seasons - albeit this term is only three games old - shows that Salah is covering more distance per game than ever before. This year he's broken the 10km barrier for the first time with a current average of 10.1km - more than half a kilometre more than in the 2021/22 season - which saw him named the league's best player.
Salah is making more sprints than ever before - averaging 24.6 so far this term. That is nearly ten more than last term, where he would sprint an average of 16.3 times per game. The pressure he applies in the final third has also gone in the right direction.
This season he's been aiming to win the ball back high under Slot and has challenged his opponents on 14 occasions per game when in the final third. Over the last three seasons those numbers have been 11.3, 11.6 and 10.3 - all that despite Klopp being known for his high energy football whilst Slot is seen as wanting more control.
It all points towards a forward whose output is only going up despite him ageing. Salah admitted in the aftermath of the victory at Old Trafford that this was his final season on Anfield with no progression in contract talks as of yet - but the stats show he is far from downing tools. In fact, quite the opposite.
He told Sky Sports : "I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive because as you know it's my last year at the club. I just want to enjoy it and I don't want to think about it. I feel like I'm free to play football and then we'll see what happens next year."
Salah also added: "No-one at the club has spoken to me about contracts, so I'm just like, 'OK, I'm playing my last season' and see what happens at the end of the season. So far, we don't know with which club, but so far yeah my last game here with Liverpool. It's not up to me but nobody talk to me about a contract with the club. We'll see."
Last summer the club resisted an offer that was north of £100million from a Saudi Arabian outfit. There is a school of thought that suggests Salah will eventually make a move to the Middle East, but others believe he will remain in Europe whilst he's still at the peak of his powers.
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