ARNE SLOT will step into Liverpool’s £100m Mo Salah dilemma when his job officially begins today.
Kop star Salah pledged his Anfield future last month when he vowed to “fight like hell” for trophies next season in a boost for Dutchman Slot, who replaces Jurgen Klopp.
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But the Egyptian has just one year left on his contract, so now Slot and owners Fenway Sports Group must decide whether to cash in on their talisman or risk losing him for nothing in 12 months’ time.
Salah, the club’s top scorer for the past seven seasons, has long-term interest from the Saudi Professional League, especially Al-Ittihad.
With Klopp gone, Salah, 31, knows he can turn his £19.5m-a-year salary into an impressive three-year £375m commitment to the Middle East.
Liverpool CEO Michael Edwards is a huge admirer of Salah, who was signed by Klopp for just £34.3m from Roma in 2017, but there are no signs of a contract extension.
If the Saudis return with their interest – originally submitted at last September’s deadline and totaling £475m, including wages and transfer fees – then all Salah would have to do to secure a mega-money move to the desert would be nod with his freshly shaved head. in their direction.
They would then recoup a large portion of that expense from the boom in television rights thanks to Salah’s presence.
He would join other global stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and probably Casemiro next season in attracting bettors.
Not that a country full of petrodollars needs this, despite Salah being the most famous Muslim football player on the planet, with close to 100 million followers on social media.
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The real question is how much does FSG need of £100 million plus a huge reduction in wage costs? And how much Slot needs it?
Of course, any new manager would want to keep a player with such an incredible goalscoring rate in 349 games as Salah, whose total of 155 league goals is a Liverpool Prem era record.
However, the former Feyenoord manager is committed to creating his own version of the team Klopp left behind and waiting for Salah to say goodbye would be a huge distraction.
Slot also has a brilliant and fledgling replacement in Ben Doak, who is in Scotland’s initial Euro squad.
Doak, 18, made five senior appearances before a knee injury ended his season in December. He not only has a fast pace, but also excellent football intelligence.
Crystal Palace’s 22-year-old Michael Olise would also be an ideal alternative and would like to play in the Champions League.
There will be other matters on Slot’s mind, like what to do with the hit-and-miss conundrum that is Darwin Nunez.
There are rumors that the 24-year-old Uruguayan could be sent off – with SunSport exclusively revealing that Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, 28, is a possible £60m successor.
Feyenoord number one Justin Bijlow, 26, is also on the agenda with Alisson, 31, another Saudi target, while Caoimhin Kelleher, 25, is convinced he wants first-team football.
But the biggest decision lies with Salah, especially after Saudi Pro League director Michael Emenalo made it clear that the door remains open.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
