Mohamed Salah truth hiding in plain sight all along as Liverpool get contract message

And just like that another record went tumbling. Mohamed Salah climbed the Premier League's all-time goalscorer charts again on Sunday with a penalty as Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield.

The Egyptian is now ninth in the Premier League's all-time top scorer list, level with Jermain Defoe and closing in fast on Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Chelsea hero Frank Lampard. Just 16 more goals will see him surpass the pair of them and, whether he signs that new deal with Liverpool or not, who would bet against him doing it this season?

As for Liverpool, Salah is now fifth in the Reds' all-time goalscoring charts, quickly gaining on Billy Liddell - a player so good they nicknamed the whole club after him - and only 23 goals behind the revered Gordon Hodgson in third place.

It's no wonder, then, that Liverpool fans were begging Salah's agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, this week to ensure a new deal was signed, with the player in such rarefied air when it comes to goal returns.

And it's such records that have convinced Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher that Salah will remain at the club beyond next summer.

“He’ll have an eye on Thierry Henry (175 goals) and Frank Lampard (177) by the end of this season, I would imagine,” claimed Carragher on Sky Sports.

“I think stats like this are one of the biggest reasons why Mo Salah will sign a new contract at Liverpool.

“Of course, they’ll be talking about money and length of contract, but I think these are the things that really get the juices flowing for him. He breaks all the records at Liverpool, but getting as far as he can up those lists, whether it’s that list or different ones, I think that’s a big part of sort of his focus as a player."

And yet there's so much more to Salah now than goal returns. It's no surprise to Liverpool supporters, of course, but the way the 32-year-old has adapted his game is remarkable.

The assists are flowing as readily as the goals and it appears as though, seven years after his arrival, the wider football public are finally catching on to the fact that Salah isn't greedy. The truth, though, was hiding in plain sight all along had those who lazily had the Egyptian pegged as selfish had only bothered to look.

Indeed, even during his stunning first season, in which he struck 44 goals in all competitions and 32 of them in the Premier League, he also recorded 10 league assists. He's fallen below that number in just two seasons since then.

But that he's already halfway to that tally within eight matches speaks to how he's become the fulcrum of Liverpool's front three.

There are fewer solo goals and the left-footed pass that set up Curtis Jones for the winner against Chelsea is becoming Salah's trademark assist. His career best league tally of assists at Liverpool, 13, is well within his sights.

And that's not all, Salah's hold-up play, strength and eagerness to track back is also helping Liverpool play to the more controlled style favoured by Arne Slot. It was a quality picked up on by former Liverpool boss and renowned tactician Rafa Benitez in his Match of the Day 2 punditry on Sunday evening.

Salah appears to be, at times, dropping deeper and becoming more involved in Liverpool's general all-round play.

For too long there has been a school of thought that Salah is simply a goalscorer who sits on the periphery of the match, waiting for his chance on goal. And while his agent's veiled complaint against those who don't rate his client highly enough might seem a little sensitive, it's clear that Salah doesn't get the same romanced praise that accompanies Premier League legends such as Henry, Lampard or even Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney.

And as evidenced by a match-winning display against Chelsea, he's no flat-track bully, either. Salah's goal against the Londoners was his 56th in 81 games against the "big six" teams, second only to Alan Shearer against the Premier League's traditional leading lights.

All of this is nothing new, of course, but with anxiety at a heightened state with regards to the Egyptian's future at Anfield, with each passing game he only appears to become more important to Slot's system, not less.

Indeed, there can be no doubt, Liverpool will certainly hope Salah continues to etch his name into their history books - and a fresh new Anfield contract - in the coming months.

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