It was the informal way that Arne Slot threw the name of Mohamed Salah in the Early Anfield Press Conference Room on Sunday night, which shouted its importance.
“It's very difficult to win a football game,” Slot said. 'People always feel like: “Ah, you have Mo Salah, what are you talking about? A goal will always score.” No, it's difficult.
Salah almost always scores or helps a goal, actually. He has not been able to produce one in just four of the 25 Games of the Premier League of Liverpool this season, he scored 38.3 percent of the goals of the team and had more participations of objectives than nine whole teams in the division.
Liverpool Salah's dependence has been incontrovertible in recent weeks. He has not really been destroying games, but then, with optimal efficiency, he has hit.
There was the objective and the cross cut with indifferent for the bullet header of Alexis Mac Allister in Goodison Park. The penalty against the wolves. Even his absence in Plymouth. “I think Liverpool must realize how important it is to keep it,” said Graeme Souness about the defeat of the FA Cup.
Slot's language about Salah seems much warmer than Jurgen Klopp. “It is very experienced and intelligent and knows so well where the ball will fall,” Slot said last Friday. “That is a positive thing to be 32 years old: he has lived so many situations.” The feeling seems to be mutual. “Excellent at work”, Salah agent tweeted slotment on Friday. It is not the type of public love he expressed for Klopp.
Mohamed Salah's Liverpool dependency is undeniable and its statistics are improving with age
It seems to have a warmer relationship with Arne Slot than with Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool should break its rules for a 32 -year -old whose physicality is not deteriorating
Relationships with those highest in the Liverpool food chain do not seem so warm. Salah feels a little less loved there.
Liverpool is in a link on how much to invest to commit to the extension of its contract.
It will turn 33 in June and keep it beyond that age against the ethos grain based on data on which the return of Liverpool has been based on the top of the British game.
The center of that spirit is the fact that there are no guarantees of what a player of that age will offer you. A physical immersion and a depreciation of the asset will inevitably come. Liverpool generally does not inscribe in decisions like this.
But Salah, built as a torpedo and delivering better statistics than two years ago, is also postulated against the usual physical norms.
A Liverpool squad without him would be a shadow of the current one. Liverpool replacements have analyzed include Bryan Mbeumo de Brentford, Antoine Sememeyo of Bournemouth, Jamie Gittens of Borussia Dortmund and Takefusa Kubo of Real Sociedad. But any of those would deliver Salah's goals?
There would be greater certainty about Alexander Isak of Newcastle. But the disbursement could be £ 120 million and perhaps £ 350,000 per week in salaries. Salah is the man who is already in the building, with all the certainties they bring. It seems a very easy equation and Liverpool's position is that they want to retain it. It is the numbers, the salary and the duration of the offer, which are uncertain.
Will it stay for a lower basic salary and more based on performance in the next two years?
Liverpool relies more on him than they have done in other icons due to the lack of objectives of other places
Cody Gakpo has significantly improved under the slot, but the other strikers are not close
His loss against Plymouth in his absence was a bitter taste of how life could be after Salah
Salah's agent did not express so much love for Klopp, but the slot has described as “excellent”
The Egyptian is even more comprehensive for the club that Kevin Keegan (above), because Kenny Dalliish was an obvious replacement for him, with Salah, Liverpool has no such luxury
The main replacements for Salah are scarce, and is it worth risking £ 120 million in Alexander Isak?
Announce renovations for Salah and Virgil Van Dijk would be a great boost for their title offer
Salah's negotiation position is reinforced by the fact that the slot raws of other strikers do not approach the same goal threat. Diogo Jota, starting his first league game in four months on Sunday, has fought with the physical condition and puts himself anywhere near the same number of punctuation situations. Its number of expected objectives (XG) for this season and the last is 16.8. Salah's is 52.7. Jota could not seize the remains against the wolves.
Cody Gakpo has been the emerging force this season, used with a much larger effect by slot than Klopp. But Luis Díaz's goal on Sunday was his first calendar year, and Darwin Núñez, popular due to his work ethics, lacks consistency. Although Salah has scored 53 times of an XG of 52.7, Núñez has scored 24 goals from an XG of 33.6, so it has a lower performance in almost 10 goals.
In the great era of Liverpool of the 70s and 80s, there was an obvious solution at a time like this. When Kevin Keegan, fascinated by European football, told Bob Paisley that he wanted to leave, Kenny Dalglysh was the ideal replacement. Salah is even more comprehensive for Liverpool than Keegan at that time, but this time there is no obvious figure of Dalglysh.
Two additional years for Salah would allow Liverpool time to bring a replacement and affect some type of succession, although that type of process is in the modern era. Bajo Paisley, the renowned signings such as Ray Kennedy and Terry McDermott were signed and then started on the Liverpool Way while their time was stirred on the sidelines.
There have been indications of an advance with Salah. Last week a main advisor to the Saudi Pro League was cited by saying that the Saudites felt that they were “being used” in negotiations for a contract that would see Al Hilal offer the player a reported £ 65 million for two seasons. The advisor said: “We are receiving less indications of the player than he is even considering moving here.”
A joint advertisement that declares that Salah and Virgil Van Dijk will remain would be a great impulse amid Liverpool attempt to boost the title.
Meanwhile, the club will have a habitual confidence to have Salah next to Aston Villa on Wednesday night.