Not just Salah: £150k-per-week Liverpool star should be asking to leave
Liverpool have turned a corner, now five matches unbeaten in all competitions and with two wins on the trot after dispatching Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s team have climbed up to sixth place in the Premier League, still a distance behind table-toppers Arsenal, who sit ten points ahead of the champions, whose brace of own goals against Wolves later in the day retightened their grip on top spot. .
Some would say that that is an unassailable lead over the Merseysiders, but Liverpool do have a squad capable of competing and beating Mikel Arteta’s side – again – with the trip to the Emirates in less than a month one to watch, for sure.
Of course, after such abject results and performances, Slot’s side have so much work still to do, and if Saturday’s win told us anything, it’s that they would be worse off if they were to lose Mohamed Salah after the African Cup of Nations.
Salah's return to Liverpool action
To say it’s been a turbulent week for Salah at Liverpool would be an understatement. Last weekend, the Egyptian’s inflammatory outburst at Elland Road cast his future at the club into doubt.
The 33-year-old had been dropped to the bench for three successive matches, and after being kept on the sidelines as Liverpool capitulated against Leeds United, he paused at the mixer and unleashed an incredible series of comments concerning a broken relationship with the head coach.
He was dropped from the squad that beat Inter Milan entirely, and he started from the bench once again at Anfield, coming into the fray before half an hour against the Seagulls and whipping in the corner that Hugo Ekitike headed home for his second brace in a row.
This has created an intense air of doubt over Salah’s future at the club, with suitors from the Saudi Pro League circling.
But Liverpool simply cannot let their talisman leave. Even though he’s been so far out of sorts, Salah has still maintained a degree of prolificness in the final third, only trumped by Ekitike.
Hugo Ekitike
23
10 (1)
Mohamed Salah
20
5 (4)
Cody Gakpo
21
5 (4)
Federico Chiesa
16
2 (3)
Alexander Isak
15
2 (1)
Florian Wirtz
21
0 (5)
Rio Ngumoha
8
1 (0)
That’s a marker of Liverpool’s woes, the lack of balance and fluency across Slot’s frontline, but it also shows how important it is that the legendary winger is not cast aside at the campaign’s midpoint.
However, whether that is the same for another attacker is another question.
Liverpool's fringe forward must be pushing to leave
barring Ekitike, Liverpool’s new forwards have struggled to gel together this season. Salah too. However, who can argue against Federico Chiesa’s impact and tenacity when brought off the bench throughout the campaign?
The 27-year-old forward has yet to start in the Premier League or the Champions League this season, but he scored the winner in his side’s season opener against Bournemouth and scoring and assisting again in defeats against Crystal Palace and Manchester United. In the Carabao Cup, he claimed two assists against Southampton in a Man of the Match display.
But the £150k-per-week star must be reaching the end of his tether, having been used sparingly right since joining the Anfield side from Juventus for a cut-price £12.5m deal in August 2024.
Like Salah, the Italy international may be looking for the exit door, and it would be hard to blame him if it were so. Though Salah’s own case – and confirmed absence over the next month due to AFCON – suggests Chiesa will earn further chances to showcase his skills, Jeremie Frimpong is soon to return from injury, Liverpool may well be active in the transfer market.
One side of the argument would draw attention to Salah’s potential departure in January, or maybe at the end of the season. Regardless, the £400k-per-week superstar is playing through his penultimate year on Merseyside at the latest.
However, FSG have a vested interest in Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo, and his arrival would only knock Chiesa further down the pecking order.
On one side of the fence, Chiesa’s mentality and attitude have been impeccable despite his limited match action this season, but Chiesa surely can’t brook many more oversights from Slot. He needs to play, and with the January transfer window right around the corner, the Italian might just look for an exit.
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