Liverpool don’t tend to entertain big, messy questions in public, but this one is hovering over the club whether they like it or not: should Liverpool sell Mo Salah?
At the end of this season Salah will have one year left on his £400,000-a-week contract.
That’s around another £21 million committed to a player who will be 34 by the time the deal expires, and in a squad already under scrutiny for its spending – as explored in our Premier League table based on cost per point analysis – it’s a decision Liverpool can’t simply put off.
He is still Mo Salah, still capable of match-deciding moments, but the financial weight of that final year hangs over every conversation Liverpool are having about their attack.
Right now, he might still be Liverpool’s biggest name. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s still the right fit.
Mo Salah Contract and Cost
There are only a handful of clubs who can realistically afford Salah’s salary, and none of those options look straightforward.
Even the teams who could pay it might only do so with heavy subsidy – the kind of deal Chelsea had to strike to move on Raheem Sterling last year (but have failed to do so this year).
And that’s the real question Liverpool have to ask themselves: Do you want to carry another £20m+ for one last year of Salah? Or do you cash out early, even after handing him a two-year extension just last summer?
Keeping him means committing to the idea that he can carry one version of Liverpool into the next. That was the plan: let Salah be the bridge between eras.
But plans can age fast in football, and the Premier League title race is probably over for Liverpool, so this one now looks more complicated than FSG would like.
Their structure has frayed, their pressing has dipped, and they can no longer simply plug Salah in and let him carry them.
Is Mo Salah A Problem?
The raw numbers aren’t flattering. Three non-penalty goals and two assists in the league. 0.42 xG+xA per 90, down from 0.87 last season. He’s been better in Europe, but nearly all of that output came in one game against Atletico Madrid.
He is better than his current form suggests – that isn’t in dispute. He can still create, and he can still score. But Liverpool’s tactical issues make the conversation more nuanced.
Last season, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate were able to clean up behind him on the right. This year, with Konate out of form and the full-back situation unsettled, that safety net has disappeared.
Slot is left trying to fix the press, integrate Florian Wirtz, balance Isak and Ekitike, and stabilise both full-back roles – all while giving Salah the minutes and usage he expects.
None of this makes Salah “the problem”. It just makes him part of a wider tactical puzzle that Liverpool no longer have the pieces to solve cleanly.
Who Could Actually Sign Mo Salah?
This is the part nobody seems to want to say out loud.
The traditional European landing spots – the likes of PSG, Juventus, Inter – either don’t need Salah or can’t afford him. Barcelona finally seem to have fixed their financial issues, but they have Lamine Yamal. Bayern are stacked in wide areas. Arsenal under Arteta simply isn’t going to happen.
So who realistically takes a 34-year-old Salah (by the time next summer comes around) on £400k a week?
Saudi Arabia was the obvious answer, but Ronaldo’s contract renewal at Al-Nassr (running to the same expiry year as Salah) makes the “Salah replaces Ronaldo, reunites with Mane” scenario unviable now.
MLS is an option in theory, but not for anywhere near the salary he currently commands.
If you can’t find a buyer, or the buyer can’t meet the salary, then Liverpool are stuck in a holding pattern. And Salah isn’t a “happy rotation” forward in the way some ageing stars become. He’s a volume player. He wants the ball. He wants the minutes.
Mo Salah’s Role Under Arne Slot
It’s also impossible to ignore Salah’s defensive role – or lack of one – under Slot. That’s fine when Liverpool are rolling teams, not so fine when they’ve already lost six of their last seven in the league.
Slot’s challenge is a tricky one. Currently at his disposal, he has:
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A forward line that has to play because of their price tags
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A world-class veteran who is still output-capable but tactically complicated
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No reliable backup centre-back, meaning no back-three adjustment
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A new pair of full-backs with middling starts
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A right side that no longer has Trent behind Salah
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A supposed superstar midfielder in Wirtz who needs central responsibility, not wing cover
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A press that cannot afford passengers
You can fix one of those issues at a time. Maybe two. You cannot fix all of them at once.
And that’s why the “Should Liverpool sell Mo Salah?” question won’t go away. Slot needs fewer problems, not more.
Will Liverpool Sell Salah In The Summer?
January will be telling. If Salah’s output ticks up, the argument to keep him suddenly makes way more sense. If it doesn’t, Liverpool will have to decide whether they want one last year of a still-capable Salah or some financial wiggle room to reshape the squad in the summer.
And even then, there’s the emotional factor. Salah is an all-timer. One of the Premier League’s greatest forwards. Nobody wants to be the manager or sporting director who pushes him out the door.
But the optics of keeping a club legend on £400k a week and benching him might be worse.
Fans will always see Salah through the highlight-reel prism, and understandably so. He was extraordinary last season. He’s been extraordinary for eight years. His legacy isn’t in any doubt. But Liverpool have to be thinking about how they’re going to move on at this point.
If you were looking at another club and saw a 34-year-old on £400k a week with declining output and a tactical role that complicates the system, what would you advise them to do?
At what point does sentiment run into strategy?
Should Liverpool Sell Mo Salah?
If there’s a buyer, Liverpool should think very seriously about it. Not because Salah is ‘finished’, but because the club needs flexibility and clarity more than they need one last dance from a legend.
If there isn’t a buyer – and right now, there might not be – then Liverpool are likely locked into keeping him for the final year and riding out the complications.
Either way, given the club’s poor run of form, everything’s under the microscope at Liverpool right now – even for a player like Mo Salah.
