As he continues to play a fundamental role for his side, Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has raised concerns over Liverpool’s ability to keep hold of Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian winger enjoyed an incredible season last year, scoring 44 goals and providing 16 assists in 52 appearances in his first campaign at Anfield.
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Albeit things have been a little slower at the start of this season, he has still managed to bag six goals and two assists in 13 outings as Liverpool remain on track to win trophies and reach their objectives.
However, his recent celebrations after scoring, or lack of, has raised some eyebrows, and Merson has argued that while interest from Real Madrid is inevitable, he thinks that something isn’t quite right with the 26-year-old at Liverpool right now.
“If he keeps on scoring Madrid will come calling. They will want him in January. They are struggling like mad,” he told Sky Sports, as noted by The Express.
“If Salah wanted to go, Liverpool would be powerless to stop him. Salah doesn’t look happy at Liverpool at the moment and we’ve seen this before. I watched him score against Huddersfield and his body language looked terrible. That would worry me if I was a Liverpool fan.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if Real Madrid make a big bid in January, and you know how these things work, there might already be some contact.”
It seems like a bit of an over-the-top reaction in fairness, to go from being Liverpool’s talisman to potentially considering an exit just 18 months after moving to Merseyside when things are seemingly going so well on the pitch for the team.
Jurgen Klopp’s side looked primed to compete for major honours again this season, Salah will be fundamental in that push and so they will have no interest in seeing him leave.
Merson does make a fair point though that if he does indeed wish to move on and if Real Madrid come knocking, it could be very difficult for the Reds to hold on to him. However, it’s still unclear as to what is behind Salah’s muted celebrations in midweek and it may well have nothing to do with considering an exit.