The ball could not be more firmly in Liverpool's court . When it comes to a contract extension for Mohamed Salah at Anfield , the Egyptian couldn't have made it clearer that he would be open to negotiations — but they are yet to be forthcoming.
"I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive because as you know it's my last year at the club," he said live on Sky Sports after the final whistle. "I just want to enjoy it and I don't want to think about it. I feel like I'm free to play football and then we'll see what happens next year.
"Coming into the game, I said it could be the last time [I play here with Liverpool]. No one at the club has spoken to me about contracts, so I'm just like, 'OK, I'm playing my last season' and see what happens at the end of the season.
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"So far, we don't know with which club, but so far yeah my last game here with Liverpool. It's not up to me but nobody talk to me about a contract with the club. We'll see."
Arne Slot then replied to those comments during his press conference . "It's a lot of 'if'," he said. "At this moment, he is one of ours and I am really happy with him being one of ours and he played really well. I don't talk about contracts from players but I can talk for hours about how Mo played today."
Sky Sports reports that Salah wants to stay at Liverpool and while he can negotiate a free transfer move for next summer in just 131 days, there is not necessarily any reason to panic yet. There is still time to get something sorted out with the Egyptian's representatives.
There is no reason for the Liverpool superstar to want to leave — and no reason for the Reds to want to move him on. Saudi Arabia remains lingering in the background but while it is a handy negotiating tool for Salah's side, there is no appetite for the 32-year-old to head there just yet.
As Jamie Carragher suggested over the weekend, Salah has designs on playing at the top level for as long as possible. The way that his body is, he could easily play until he is close to 40 and like Cristiano Ronaldo , will be eyeing as many records as he can in the meantime. He only needs 14 more goals to overtake Billy Liddell as Liverpool's fourth all-time top scorer.
It is significant, clearly, that Salah confirmed there had been no talks with Liverpool over an extension yet. Usually when it gets to this point in a player's contract, that only means one thing: a free agent exit as was the case with the likes of Gini Wijnaldum .
There is a crucial difference this time around, though. Liverpool has a new sporting director in Richard Hughes , and Jurgen Klopp has departed. There has been plenty else going on behind the scenes that needed to be resolved more urgently.
While it is simply unthinkable that Liverpool would lose any of Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold or Virgil van Dijk for nothing, other things behind closed doors have needed to be put in order first. Now, with the summer transfer window out of the way, those three players can be the main priority.
With January 1 edging closer, however, the clock is ticking. Salah's performances on the pitch could not be much better — and there is little reason to think that he is set for a sharp decline any time soon.
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