Mohamed Salah said that he sees himself playing at the top level until he is 40 years old as he claimed that he is now in the peak period of his career.
Salah turns 33 next month and recently signed a two-year contract extension at Liverpool, which will keep him at Anfield beyond his 35th birthday.
There was plenty of speculation surrounding Salah’s future throughout the season, as his previous deal was due to expire on June 30 this year, but he ultimately ended up signing a renewal until 2027.
Despite the cloud of uncertainty that hung over Salah for much of this season, he is enjoying arguably his best-ever campaign for the club, scoring 33 goals and registering 23 assists for the team.
And the Egyptian believes he is currently in his prime — because he is young enough to still be able to produce the goods physically, while his age means he already has plenty of years of experience at the highest level under his belt.
“People need to realize, in the last five or 10 years, players start hitting their peak when they are after 30,” Salah told Sky Sports. “That is when they have more experience and they can manage more their emotions.
“Football is changed now and people take care of themselves. If you try and do everything right, you can play until you decide when you retire. Probably I will go until 39 or 40, until the kid say you are leaving football now and just stay with us!
“Based on the club’s history, I would say because the club deals with players who are 30 or 31 in a different way, it was [possible I could leave]. But there was always time.
“It wasn’t clear in my head that I was going to stay 100 per cent. But I was thinking about enjoying it and seeing what was going to happen at the end of the season.”
Salah added that he credits Arne Slot and his Liverpool teammates massively for the brilliant form he has shown this season. “Half of the credit goes to him (Slot) and the other half goes to the teammates,” Salah said. “Because they are always helping me in situations, to give me the ball or just to be in the right spot that I can pass the ball or that I can score, so yeah I give them all credit.”
