Michael Owen has insisted that Liverpool’s players will have taken no notice of Mohamed Salah’s comments over his contract situation this season. What’s more, he believes the Reds talisman wants to stay at Anfield.
The Egyptian’s future remains up in the air with just a few months remaining of the season. As things stand, Salah will leave the club as a free agent when his contract expires in the summer, and he is able to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club if he wishes to do so.
The uncertainty around his future certainly hasn’t had a negative impact on his performances, with the 32-year-old on course for his best season at Anfield. Salah has 30 goals and 28 assists from 38 appearances across all competitions, with plenty of games still to come.
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That remarkable form has put Liverpool in pole position for the Premier League title, with the Reds sitting 11 points ahead of nearest challenger Arsenal. Not only that, but a treble could be on the cards, with the Carabao Cup final and Champions League knockout stages still to come.
Salah has not been shy about addressing his future, unlike Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and has put plenty of pressure on Liverpool with his comments in recent months, suggesting that he could be in his final year at Anfield. Owen though believes those comments won’t have had any effect in the dressing room.
“I can assure you, if you go into the Liverpool dressing room, Mohamed Salah’s comments on his contract will have never ever been mentioned by any single person. Nobody's bothered,” Owen told BoyleSports, who offer the latest Cheltenham betting.
“They're all so focused on winning trophies. They are more concerned about playing football as well as their own situations away from the pitch, his contract won’t have been discussed.
“Of course, everybody will be delighted if he signs a contract and he stays for the long term, which I think he will. But all this hot air in the meantime won’t be talked about in the changing room.
“They just want him scoring goals on the pitch and helping them win the league, then you can get to the summer and worry about what the squad's going to be like next year.”
Owen added: “I only think Mohamed Salah's coming out there and making comments because he wants to sign. If he was looking to slip away quietly and just go on a Bosman at the end of the year then he would not have said a word.
“I believe he really wants to sign, which is why he basically put the gun to Liverpool's head and come out in the press because they were having no success in negotiations.
“So he put the gun to their head and said let's get people talking about it. Let's get the fans pressurizing the club into offering the deal. That's how I read the situation. He wouldn't have said anything if he didn't want to stay.
“The club has every right to stick to their age policy, but this is a freak of nature that we’re watching with the amount of goals and the numbers he is posting at his age.
“We’ve possibly only seen Cristiano Ronaldo do it at this age. I think if Liverpool’s policy is a two-year contract maximum and he wants three, someone has to be sensible here.
“It’s time to turn a blind eye to the rules and regulations because he’s not slowing down and I can't imagine with his attitude that he will slow down much in the next two or three years.”
