Arne Slot has joked that Mohamed Salah’s phenomenal form is perfect for everyone at Liverpool apart from the paymasters who must negotiate his next Anfield contract.
Salah helped strengthen Liverpool’s grip on the Premier League title with a goal and an assist in their impressive win at Manchester City on Sunday. The 32-year-old has 30 goals and 21 assists from 38 appearances this season – 25 goals and 16 assists in the Premier League – and has scored in his past eight outings. Salah requires one more goal to overtake Gordon Hodgson as the third-highest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history.
The Egypt international has just over four months remaining on his contract and, despite stating several times that he wishes to extend, has yet to reach agreement on a new deal. Slot believes the striker’s contribution to Liverpool’s title challenge has reinforced his value to the club.
Asked whether Salah’s output made it harder or easier to extend his contract, the head coach replied: “You can look at it in both ways. You can say the better he does the more expensive he might become and if he did really worse we would have second thoughts to extend his contract. For everyone it is best that he brings in the performances he does now; maybe only for the one who has to pay him it is not the best.
“For everyone else it is the best because if you want to play at this club you need to be at his level otherwise you are almost useless to play at this club because we only need players that are at the top of their game. Because this is one of the best, or the best, club in the world to play for. He needs to have these performances for him to play here and hopefully to extend here.”
Slot believes Salah needs to end this season with a Premier League and/or Champions League winner’s medal to enhance his claims for individual prizes such as the Ballon d’Or. But he insisted the forward’s form was a result of everyone at Liverpool giving their all to win the club’s 20th league championship.
“What I see is a top professional, not only what you see on the pitch but he comes in early, works so hard on his body and he works even at home as well,” Slot said. “If I see how much work he puts in over here and then to do so much extra at home, I think he has found the balance to get the best out of himself. That is what comes with experience and playing games at the highest level.
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“But he is not the only one. I see everyone in this building works so hard. The players first to get the best out of themselves but all the staff members work incredibly hard as well. It is February and we have three pitches which are perfectly ready for us to train in the best possible circumstance. It is not only about the players who put a lot of effort in to get the best out of themselves, it is the whole building and all the people who work here to get the best out of the players as well.”
Source: theguardian.com
