If Sadio Mane wanted a ‘new challenge’ then why didn’t he try and help Helsingborgs win the Champions League? Plus, it’s two wins already for Man Utd, Mo Salah’s new contract, Spurs optimism and lots more…
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Why Salah was always going to sign a new contract at Liverpool…
I bet a friend of mine a few weeks ago that Salah would sign a new Liverpool contract (he’s a Liverpool fan, I’m United) and now I’m here to explain why. It’s not that I wanted Salah to stay at Liverpool, he’s obviously been great for them, but there was something weird with it all. Mainly, that he wasn’t getting any offers for a player that good.
Usually when the elite players near the end of contracts, there’s nothing but constant rumours. Especially considering that it was fairly public that he was rejecting them – that’s when the vultures tend to circle, or at the very least that’s when agents use any whispers as a bargaining chip in negotiations (think Ramos using United for a Real contract). Not that I think Salah would do that particular thing, but it was oddly quiet. Even when he said before the champions league final that he’d see out his year, usually someone comes along to test that resolve, like Real putting a big offer in for Mbappe last year. Going into his last year, it was very, very weird that someone didn’t offer Liverpool £60m just to see what they’d do.
Then I got to thinking, Salah doesn’t seem like he’d be as good for just any team – Liverpool suit him, whereas Mane seems more transferable. I obviously don’t mean that in a bad way but the only other manager I think he’d be as good for is Pep. Maybe at Bayern too. I don’t think he’d be bad for Barca, Real, PSG but just not at the same level, and I think the quietness is what made him take the Liverpool offer.
On another note, something that really annoys me is that when Carragher talks about Salah or some other players he says, “what I love about him is that he’s never injured”. It’s ridiculous and archaic as if it’s a choice. Players don’t ask to be injured (very few may feign it) and there are many stories of players rushing back so they can play in an important game or help the team and then get injured worse. It’s an odd stick to beat someone with when it’s literally their body – I’m sure even for Liverpool that Thiago and Henderson hate being injured.
And I can’t answer all of…
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