New long-term deal for Salah illustrates the belief in Klopp's project
Whoever said Monday’s were bad clearly didn’t give Mo or Liverpool the message.
The Egyptian put pen to paper on a new five year deal with the club, committing his long-term future in the process. He’s now Liverpool’s highest wage earners on £200,000 a week – a salary that also sees him land in the top ten highest-earning players in the English top flight – a fitting reward for an outstanding first season on Merseyside that saw him notch 32 goals in a 38 game Premier League season, smashing the record for most goals in a single campaign while simultaneously grabbing the Golden Boot from Harry Kane.
A cherry on top of the cake, Salah’s new contract comes without a release clause, thus giving Liverpool all the power in any potential sale over the next few years. The news comes as a huge boost to the club, with Klopp now tying down 2/3 of his record-breaking front three as he looks to mould a title-challenging side.
In a scintillating year, Salah stole almost every individual accolade in the land, securing the PFA Player of the Year, Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and several Liverpool POTM awards.
There’s been screamers, dazzling dancing moves to send Watford defenders on the floor before carefully tapping the ball home, doing keepy-ups to taunt the Porto goalkeeper and just generally taking the Premier League, and Europe for that matter, by storm. In short, he’s more than earned his 100 per cent wage increase.
His new contract marks a meteoric rise to stardom; just three years ago Chelsea offloaded Salah to Roma for £11million having been left out in the cold at Stamford Bridge. Now, he’s the spearhead of Klopp’s exhilarating attack, adding his name to the ever-growing list of former-Chelsea players turned good.
Jurgen Klopp commented on the club’s official website following Salah’s new deal:
“I think this news can be seen for what it is; rewarding a person who performed and contributed greatly for the team and the club last season. It demonstrates two things very clearly also – his belief in Liverpool and our belief in him.
We want world-class talent to see they have a home at Anfield where they can fulfil all their professional dreams and ambitions – we are working hard together to achieve this. When someone like Mo Salah commits and says this place is my home now, it speaks very loudly I think.
Equally, our commitment to him says we see his value and want him to grow even more and get even better within our environment. The key thing to remember is the best thing about Mo is that he never sees himself as being more important than the team or anyone else within it. He recognises his teammates and this club helped him achieve individual success last season. He sees the individual awards come because he is part of something bigger that is special.
Mo reflects where we are as a team, I think. Last season was special with many special moments – but we want more. We want to be more successful and achieve more together – as the supporters sang so loudly, we’re never gonna stop. This has to be the attitude individually and collectively.”
The 26-year-old is capable of matching or even surpassing Luis Suarez’s record at Anfield. Scoring 31 league goals and 12 assists in 2013/14, he achieved a goal or assist rate of 68.9 minutes. Salah’s 32 goals and 10 assists in 2954 minutes corresponds to a goal or assist every 70.3 minutes, thus while he remains behind the Uruguayan, he’s more than capable of reaching that ceiling.
Salah’s the kind of incredible talent you don’t see very often – the guile, the aggression, the outrageous skill, he’s got it all. The key thing? He believes Liverpool is a place capable of giving him the platform to become the best player he can be and earn the silverware his undisputed talent deserves. Don’t underestimate Klopp’s hand in all of this too – a manager whose philosophy allows Salah to express himself so freely, the two are made for one another.
Arguably the best piece of piece of business Liverpool will do this summer, ensuring Mohamed Salah’s peak years are played at Anfield is a scintillating prospect. The player is currently enjoying a well-earned summer break after Egypt were sent packing after a group stage exit in the World Cup but is set to link up with the rest of his teammates for the pre-season tour in the United States.