Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy has defended Mohamed Salah’s recent comments that have sparked something of a transfer saga surrounding the Egyptian forward.
The Reds ace notably gave an interview to AS in which he seemed to hint at being open to a move to one of La Liga’s big two – Real Madrid and Barcelona – at some point in the future.
This is hardly the worst crime in the world as Salah only really failed to rule out a move, rather than insisting he was eager to get one.
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Still, Salah will also surely have been aware of how his quote would be taken, and he could have been a little more careful with his words to avoid this turning into as big a story as it has done.
Ex-Red Murphy, however, has defended Salah, writing in the Daily Mail that the 28-year-old should continue to get a good reception from the club’s fans.
“Mo Salah should receive a great reception from the 2,000 fans inside Anfield for Sunday’s game at West Brom. If anyone gives him stick because of an interview he gave to Spanish media, they are out of order,” Murphy said.
“All Salah did was fail to commit the rest of his career to Liverpool or close the door completely on a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid.
“As a fan, you’d want him to nail his colours to the mast and shoot down any transfer speculation immediately but if you think about it from Salah’s point of view, it is understandable.
“He didn’t grow up in England, his family may want to live in a warmer climate or different culture. I’d have played forever at Liverpool if I’d been a guaranteed pick like Salah but these days it’s normal for players to leave themselves options.
“I always think it is best to judge players by their workrate and performances on the pitch and you cannot fault Salah this season or at any time since he joined the club.
“He is in brilliant goalscoring form and we should focus on that rather than what may or may not happen in the future.”