The Reds would be mad to pass up their final opportunity to make serious money on a 31-year-old who is acting and playing poorly
"If I speak today, there will be fire." So said Mohamed Salah as he poured petrol on a blaze that he himself had ignited at the London Stadium on Saturday. It was a staggering act of sabotage towards the tail end of a demoralising 2-2 draw with West Ham, albeit entirely in keeping with the calamitous conclusion of Liverpool's campaign, which has been a traumatising tale of self-inflicted damage.
Indeed, Salah's unseemly sideline spat with Jurgen Klopp came just seconds after the almost inevitable concession of yet another goal that had its origins in an unforced error (this time from Alisson Becker) – which had been preceded by the now customary squandering of a succession of chances to kill the game at the other end of the field.
Consequently, Liverpool's frustrated fans were left dealing with not only with the devastation of seeing their team's Premier League title hopes extinguished in fittingly farcical fashion, but also the sad sight of two of their most beloved figures involved in a surprisingly heated and depressingly public argument.
It was all so desperately undignified and only reinforced the belief that Liverpool should cash in on Salah this summer.
GettyTrue Liverpool legend
The Egyptian has long been Klopp's talisman, and his Liverpool legacy is already secure. As their all-time leading scorer in Premier League history, his greatness cannot be questioned. He is up there with Thierry Henry on the list of the finest forwards ever to play in England.
Even in a season affected by the Africa Cup of Nations and the injury he sustained in Ivory Coast, Salah has still managed to score 24 times and rack up 12 assists – only six players have been involved in more goals across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues.
Numbers-wise, a substandard season for Salah represents an incredible campaign for the likes of Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins. In that sense, the winger is a victim of his own sustained excellence over the past seven years.
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There is also every reason to believe that a summer's worth of proper rest and recuperation will allow Salah to get back to his best next season, after being quite clearly hindered by the hamstring problem he suffered in January – even after his spring return to action.
After all, Salah has been borderline indestructible since arriving at Anfield from Roma. Obviously, there is always a bit of luck involved in avoiding serious injury, but Salah's renowned fitness regime has quite clearly played a pivotal role in his ability to play 50 games a season. It’s not difficult to foresee him performing at a high level well into his mid-30s.
However, the news that Liverpool are actually considering keeping Salah for another season makes little financial or sporting sense.
Getty Another Saudi bid incoming?
Liverpool were right to turn down a £150 million ($190m) offer from Al-Ittihad for Salah's service's last September as he was still performing at the peak of his powers and there was always a chance that Klopp might mastermind a Premier League title challenge – even after a summer of great upheaval at Anfield.
So it proved, with Salah's sensational form during the first half of the season one of the main reasons why the resurgent Reds were able to put themselves in a position to challenge for the quadruple before he headed off to the AFCON.
But an awful lot has changed since then. There are now legitimate doubts over Salah's form and fitness, as well as the quality of Klopp's likely successor, Arne Slot. So, if Al-Ittihad were to put anything like the same kind of cash on the table at the end of the current campaign, it should be snapped up.
Getty ImagesSell Salah to strengthen squad
Salah turns 32 on June 15 and has just over one year left on his contract. It has been reported that a new deal will be discussed with the club in due course, but this is likely Liverpool's final opportunity to sell Salah for a hefty fee. It needs to be taken, given a worthy replacement will not come cheap.
It’s also worth reiterating that Liverpool remain a work in progress. As the final few weeks of the season have so painfully underlined, the squad still needs strengthening in several key areas. Ibrahima Konate cannot be counted on, Jarell Quansah is still too raw to be first-choice, the No.6 problem has yet to resolved, while the nagging doubts over Darwin Nunez's suitability to the role of spearheading the attack have resurfaced in recent weeks.
So, just like the mad money Liverpool managed to convince Barcelona to pay for Philippe Coutinho, the Salah funds could be put towards either a Salah successor – or transformational signings elsewhere.
