Liverpool star Mohammed Salah has admitted in a new interview he doesn’t want to leave Liverpool — but it’s up to the club whether he stays or goes.
Salah has been at Liverpool since 2017, when he signed for a club-record fee of £36.9 million. The reds have since won the English Premier League 2019-20 title for the first time after a 30-year-drought, and became champions of Europe after cinching the 2019 UEFA Champion League title.
The lightning-quick winger also broke the EPL scoring record after netting 32 goals in 36 league games in 2018.
However Salah’s future at Liverpool has been in doubt. His contract ends in 2023, but in an interview last month, he was vocal about how disappointed he was that he was denied the captain arm band against Midjtylland.
“Honestly, I was very disappointed,” he told Spanish outlet Diaro AS. “I was expecting to be the captain, but it’s a manager’s decision, so I accept it.”
Instead of Salah, 28, who was the most senior player on the pitch, Trent Alexander-Arnold, 22, wore the captain’s armband.
Salah also didn’t rule out a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid, fueling transfer rumours.
In an interview this week, the father-of-two again discussed his future at Liverpool, with Norwegian outlet TV2.
“I do not know. If you ask, I say I want to stay here as long as I can, but, as I have said before, it is in the hands of the club. I will always give 100 per cent to the last minute I am in this club and I want to win as many trophies as I can. And I want to give 100 per cent to the people, who show me love all the time,” said Salah.
But manager Jurgen Klopp was pragmatic when quizzed about Salah’s intentions last month.
“The only reason to leave Liverpool at the moment is the weather. What other reason could there be?” Klopp said. “You cannot force people to stay … We never did by the way,” he added.
“When Mo answered the question [about Spanish clubs], it was that these clubs might be interested, and he didn’t rule that out. If you ask any player in the world who is not playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid if he can imagine playing there one day, and he said: ‘No, Spanish football is not for me,’ why should he say that?
"The only thing he said was we shall see and it is in the club’s hands. It is 100 per cent true and it is about having talks about the future. It is really all fine. Mo is a very important player for me, obviously, but this story around is not.”
The Egyptian footballer may be feeling a twinge of frustration at the moment that has nothing to do with Merseyside’s rainy climate — his last four games have come without a single goal (including in the scoreless match against Manchester United on Sunday). But Salah scored four goals in the four matches prior.
Before to his move to Liverpool, Salah also played for foreign clubs such as Basel, Chelsea and Roma. He has yet to play for a Spanish club.
