Mohamed Salah could be close to signing a new contract with Liverpool, according to former Premier League star and pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor.
However, there could also be an issue with this news as Agbonlahor claims the Reds fear meeting Salah’s £400,000 a week wage demands.
Speaking to Football Insider, the former Aston Villa player said: “I think there’s going to be big problems at Liverpool because I’m hearing Salah is close to signing a very big contract of £400,000-a-week.
“The problem with that and the reason that Liverpool are scared to give him that is because Mane will want similar, Van Dijk will want to renegotiate because he’s just signed a new contract.
“When you go over the wage cap at a club the doors will open and other players are going to want increases.
“If Salah gets £400,000-a-week, then Mane will want £350,000-a-week. Liverpool are probably thinking ‘Can we give him that when we’ve got Diaz who is coming in as a good player’.
“It’s going to be very interesting and very expensive for Liverpool. It’s definitely a big problem.
“But if I’m Mo Salah I’m asking for what I deserve. He will not even be close to what Neymar’s earning, what Lionel Messi’s earning and what Kylian Mbappe will be earning and he’s on par with them at the moment.
“He will want to be paid what he deserves. He’s the top goalscorer in the Premier League, the best player in the Premier League. ‘Give me what I deserve, if there’s a wage cap that’s not my problem’.”
Liverpool fans will surely be more happy than concerned by this news, as keeping hold of Salah is crucial to their future after the tremendous impact he’s had in his time at Anfield.
The Egypt international is one of many world class players in Jurgen Klopp’s squad, but it’s also hard to imagine they could have reached that next level without his goals and all-round quality.
Players like Van Dijk and Mane have been hugely important as well, so perhaps there is a reasonable case for improving the pay of all these players.
LFC won’t want this to damage their wage structure too much, but sometimes you just have to face that the best players will cost big money.
Salah could clearly get much bigger wages somewhere else, so Liverpool won’t want to risk low-balling him and losing him to a rival.