The English media have been inundated with comments that if Mohamed Salah extends his contract with Liverpool, Harry Kane will have no choice but to come back to the Premier League and fight for first place on the all-time top scorers list. now it has happened the Egyptian superster has made Liverpool break their “rules” of only one-year contracts for players over 30 years old and signed a two-year deal.
His previous deal expired in the summer, and there has been uncertainty as to whether he would stay with the Reds following comments from the 32-year-old during the season, as well as rumours of a move to Saudi Arabia.
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“Long Live the King”
Now, however, he will have the opportunity to build on his 243 goals and 109 assists in 393 appearances for the club. – It is still a long way up to Liverpool’s all-time top scorer Ian Rush who has 346 goals in 660 games, but with the pace at which Mohamed Salah is scoring now, it is by no means impossible. He has 27 goals in the Premier League alone this season.
“Of course I’m very excited – we have a fantastic team now,” Salah told Liverpool’s side.
“We also had a good team before, but I signed because I think we have a chance to win more trophies and because I enjoy football here.
“I’ve been playing here for eight years and hopefully it’s going to be ten. I’ve had the best years of my career here.
Salah has scored 32 goals across all competitions this season, including 27 in the Premier League, as Liverpool chase their 20th league title. The team currently leads second-placed Arsenal by 11 points, with seven games left to play.
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Salah, who joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup with the Reds. Harry Kane, who currently plays for Bayern Munich and generates his goals there, is in second place with 213 goals. Mohamed Salah, who is the only one in the top ten who scores goals a day, is in a shared 5th place with 184 goals.
He was one of three key players at Liverpool whose contracts expired this summer, along with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Dutch defender Van Dijk has indicated that there is progress in negotiations over a new deal, while Alexander-Arnold is heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Salah’s previous contract was reportedly worth over £350,000 a week, making him the highest-paid player in the club’s history. It is understood that the new negotiations did not entail any salary reduction.
“The perfect marriage continues – Liverpool and Salah need each other”
Long-term contract saga finally over
Amid uncertainty about his future, Salah has already had his second-best season in terms of goals for Liverpool in 2024/25. With seven games left, he could theoretically reach the 32 goals he scored in his first season at the club.
In September, he said in an interview with Sky Sports that this was his “last season” at Anfield, because no one at the club had spoken to him about a new deal. These statements came after he scored in a 3-0 win over Manchester United – a game he treated as if it were his last at Old Trafford.
Two months later, after a win over Southampton, Salah expressed disappointment that Liverpool had not made an offer, saying he was “more out than in” when it came to an extension.
At the time, Liverpool claimed that there were positive talks with the player’s representatives. But in January, Salah again spoke publicly about the situation, saying that the parties were “far from agreeing”.
Salah has long been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, with Liverpool rejecting a £150m bid from Al-Ittihad in 2023. Saudi Arabia’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal has stated that Salah would be “a big prize” and that they “would love to have him.”
Nevertheless, Liverpool manager Arne Slot stated in January that he wanted Salah to stay, and that the player was “wise enough to make the right decision” about his future.
When the club announced Salah’s new contract, they posted a picture of the player – dubbed “The Egyptian King” – sitting on a throne at Anfield, with the caption “More inside than outside”.
Why the two-year contracts are important
It is now raising expectations at Liverpool that captain Virgil van Dijk will also follow in Salah’s footsteps and sign a new deal. After months of negotiations, it is understood that the Dutch stopper is very close to a two-year contract.
It is a strategic importance that both contracts last for two years.
The most obvious advantage for Liverpool is that they keep two of their most important players. But it also means that they can avoid a repeat of the uncertainty that has characterized Arne Slots’ first season as manager for at least one more year.
Liverpool are on their way to their 20th league title (unless an extraordinary collapse occurs), but this feat has been overshadowed by Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold nearing the end of their contracts.
The club’s hopes of keeping Alexander-Arnold have weakened in recent weeks, the right-back has come a long way in his negotiations with Real Madrid over a free transfer in the summer.
