Liverpool are in a tricky spot in that if all stays as it is, Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold will all leave the club in the summer. All three are out of contract at the same time, unfortunately for the Reds.
That means they’ll be working hard to secure the futures of each player, though Salah revealed not long back that Liverpool were not pushing to hand him a new deal.
Now, former Premier League striker Hasselbaink has revealed he feels that contract offer should not come, if looking from the business side and not the playing side.
“There are not a lot of players like Salah who will be playing as well as he is in the last year of their contract,” Hasselbaink told Liverpool.com.
“He can obviously put all of the distractions to the side and perform like he has been – I think it really shows how mentally strong he is. If I’m the manager of Liverpool, I obviously want to keep all three of Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“If I’m the owner and with a business hat on, I would let Salah go because of his age. You would have to pay him mega money and I just don’t think you can give a player of his age a three-year contract. Business-wise, it’s not sustainable and the best business for Liverpool is to see him go.”
That argument is on the basis that Salah will slow down, with the production and physical skills of players wavering as they move deeper into their thirties.
But Salah, now 32, continues to break records, and is having one of his best seasons in a Liverpool shirt. He has already matched his Premier League goals tally from last season in 13 games fewer, and has exceeded his assists tally.
If he was to follow the norm, he would be getting worse, not better, and it would not be a surprise to still see him starring three years from now.
If he is and he’s no longer at Liverpool, they’ll regret not giving him a long contract to stay and star.
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