Arne Slot has admitted Mohamed Salah’s decision to sign a new contract at Liverpool could help with the club’s plans in the summer transfer market.
The news was finally announced on Friday that Salah has agreed fresh terms at Anfield, which will keep him at the club for another two years beyond this summer. It puts to bed at least one of the three contract sagas that have dominated the news agenda this season, with Virgil van Dijk also expected to sign an extension soon.
It means Liverpool can begin planning for the 2025/26 campaign with two of its main men. With Trent Alexander-Arnold expected to depart for Real Madrid, the Reds may only need to find one replacement from Slot’s current strongest XI.
That looks much healthier than the three that were possibly anticipated at one stage, and the Liverpool head coach feels the news Salah is staying could even encourage others to join this summer.
“I think if I would put myself in the shoes of a player we might want to sign, it is always nice to tell them – and we don’t have to tell them now as it’s out in the open – that Mo is staying,” Slot said at a press conference on Friday, just over an hour after the Salah announcement was made.
“So that helps but what helps the most is we kept a quality player that has scored seven or eight years in a row so many goals for us. In the end football is a game where you are mostly judged on goals you score and don’t concede so it is helpful to have a player who can score, for sure.”
Slot praised sporting director Richard Hughes’ input and jokingly claimed that he agreed to pay Salah a significant salary. But, in Slot’s eyes, tying Salah down indicates the positive direction of the club is headed.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Like I just said it’s important, I am 100 percent sure our fans love to see him extending, so it gives a positive vibe to the club, maybe a positive vibe we might not need but it’s always good to have positive vibes instead of negative vibes.
“On the other hand, Mo performed so well, the club performed so well with you guys [the media] only talking about their contracts but it is only a positive. If you want to sign new players or players who want to extend here it is always a positive to see one of our star players over the last seven or eight years has made the choice to extend his contract.
“It also shows maybe how ambitious this club is: not only Mo, but the owners and the ones who came in last season, that we are really ambitious to keep performing the way this club has performed for so many years.”
