Liverpool did itself a favor with 2022 transfer exit as Mohamed Salah set to be impacted

Mohamed Salah is a smart man. He doesn’t speak to the media too often so knows that when he does, it is guaranteed to generate headlines. The agenda and narrative are set on his terms, not those of others.

We saw this last season following Salah’s touchline bust up with Jürgen Klopp at West Ham. "There is going to be fire today, if I speak,” he said in his only post-match comment, ensuring there would be fire regardless. Similar occurred following the Reds’ 3-0 win over Manchester United last weekend.

“As you know it's my last year in the club,” Salah said . "I just want to enjoy it and not think about it. I feel I'm free to play football and we'll see what will happen next year,” he added. Yet this doesn’t mean the Egyptian will be leaving next summer. He has reportedly learned from a potential mistake a former teammate made two years ago.

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Salah is far from alone in being a Liverpool player in the final year of his contract, either this season or in the recent past. Both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are in the same boat this term.

Other big names have left the club at the end of their contracts in the last few summers. Thiago Alcântara and Joël Matip are the most recent examples, while Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Naby Keïta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all left under the same circumstances in 2023.

But as Salah ponders his future, he would do well to think back to 2022. Eight players left the club that summer, but none was more important or had been more integral to Klopp’s success than Sadio Mane.

The Senegalese forward was in a different position in that his exit occurred when he had 12 months remaining on his deal. Liverpool received a fee rising to a potential $46m (£35m/€42m), something it will miss out on if Salah leaves at the end of 2024/25.

Mane’s move to Bayern Munich did not go well though, and after only one season with the Bundesliga giant he found himself playing in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr. "Salah doesn't want to be like Sadio in Saudi Arabia," a source recently told Liverpool Echo . "Even if it means more money."

Salah keeps himself in fantastic shape but he will be aware that Mane is only a couple of months his senior. When a player reaches veteran status, their career at the very top level can unravel quickly. Liverpool may not have wanted to sell Mane two years ago but it might have indirectly done itself a favor by doing so when it comes to getting Salah to renew his contract.