Liverpool’s £100 million gamble on Salah, former player talks Saudi deal snub and Nunez’s key role

In summer 2023, Liverpool rejected lucrative offers from the Middle East for Mohamed Salah, and they remain firm with Salah entering the final year of his contract.

Chirag

July 9, 2024

Liverpool Could Take Risk For Mohamed Salah — James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images

Rumors circulated about Salah attracting interest from the Middle East in the summer of 2023, with enormous sums of money reportedly offered. However, Liverpool rejected these proposals. As of now, with Salah entering the final year of his contract, this stance hasn’t changed.

When asked if Liverpool is taking a risk with Salah or if there’s optimism about negotiating a new deal, former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, speaking to GOAL in association with 888sport, said, “It’s a good sign because how do you replace 20-plus goals a season over that amount of time? It’s difficult. If you can keep it, you keep it. There are not many doing that, at all. It’s a difficult decision to run the risk of losing someone for free. But if you cant replace that, it’s no good having a load of money.”

Regarding the rumored transfer fees for Salah, Heskey mentioned, “If it was 150, I would be taking it. But then you still run the risk of not getting what you want. You can’t replace that. He is guaranteed. It’s a good dilemma to have. But it’s very tough because you run the risk of not getting it right.”

As Salah stays, he’ll need support to keep Liverpool competitive in 2024-25. Darwin Nunez is expected to have a significant season, with the club hoping he can become a 20-goal-a-season player. Heskey commented on Nunez’s role, “I think he needs to contribute a little bit more than he is. He doesn’t necessarily need to be 20. We were spoilt for so long with 30 on one side [Salah], 25 on the other side [Sadio Mane] and 15 down the middle [Roberto Firmino]. Now, we’ve still got the 30 but we need the others to chip in. He needs to be 15-20 goals a season, and someone else matching that – possibly a midfielder. [Dominik] Szoboszlai looks like he could be that, particularly with the way that he strikes the ball. We need more goals from there.”

As Liverpool transitions to a new era without Jurgen Klopp, Arne Slot’s debut season will be crucial. When asked about success under Slot, Heskey said, “As a Liverpool man that would be it for me, don’t implode. Top four, let’s see. Let’s see the philosophy. It’s tough to change. It’s no longer Klopp, it’s total change. Let’s see the philosophy. That would be it for me – top four.”

Liverpool will spend part of the summer in the United States, facing Real Betis, Manchester United, and Arsenal, before returning to England for their Premier League opener against newly-promoted Ipswich on August 17.