Salah to give Liverpool one more season
Egyptian raises prospect of free-transfer exit in 2023 Thiago and Fabinho provide fitness boost for final in Paris
Mohamed Salah has increased the possibility of his leaving Liverpool on a free transfer in 2023 after insisting he will not be quitting the club this summer.
Ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final, Salah confirmed he will still be a Liverpool player at the start of next season regardless of whether a new contract is agreed.
While the news will be welcomed by those supporters who feared the Egyptian might invite bids from rival clubs having failed to agree fresh terms on Merseyside, the reality is the growing prospect of Salah exiting on a Bosman deal in a year’s time unless agreement is reached in the next six months. From the middle of next season, Salah will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with overseas clubs.
“I’m staying next season for sure,” said Salah. “That’s clear. I’m staying next season, let’s see after that. In my mind I don’t focus about the contract at the moment. I don’t want to be selfish at all. It’s about the team now, it’s a really important week for us, I can say. I want to win the Champions League again. I want to see Hendo [Jordan Henderson] having the trophy again in his hands and hopefully give it to me after! I’m just focused with the team really; I don’t want to talk about the contract now.”
Like Salah, Sadio Mane is yet to commit long-term to the club but insists his future will not be decided until after the final in Paris. “I will answer after the Champions League,” he said. “Stay or not – I’ll answer after the Champions League.”
On the task of facing Real Madrid on Saturday, Salah said he is hoping to erase the memories of the 2018 final defeat to the Spanish champions when Sergio Ramos dragged Salah to the ground and he suffered a shoulder injury. “I’m very motivated, motivated through the roof,” said Salah. “After what happened with Madrid last time, and also what happened on Sunday [in the Premier League], everybody is motivated to win the Champions League.
“I remember when I went out after 30 minutes or something. That was the worst moment in my career. I was like, ‘We cannot lose this way.’ I never felt that feeling before in football, especially the first Champions League [final] for all of us. So, we lost it, we were very, very disappointed, but I think after that summer we came back, we talked to each other. Hendo and Millie [James Milner] talked in the dressing room, if I remember right, and they say we go again for everything and we managed to win it the year after, so that was also kind of revenge, in a way, but I think we managed in the best way possible.”
Liverpool have offered positive fitness bulletins on Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara. Fabinho took part in an open training session yesterday,
while Thiago is expected to join his team-mates today. “It’s surprisingly good [news],” said manager Jurgen Klopp. “After the game [on Sunday] I was not really positive about it, but we
got news then that night already that it doesn’t look that bad and from there we went. Now we will see.”