Former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren claims that Mohamed Salah is closer to leaving Anfield than he is to signing a contract extension with the Reds.

Salah, who is good friends with Lovren and remains in touch with the PAOK center-back, will become a free agent at the end of the season as things stand, and has been linked with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia.

Although the 32-year-old is apparently keen to remain playing at the top level in Europe for a while yet, he has gone public on multiple occasions in recent months to say that an agreement over a renewal at Anfield is not close.

"I think he's closer to leaving, he's closer to leaving than to staying at the moment," Lovren told winwin. "I know what I feel, I hope everything will turn, I honestly hope for the best. In the end, it's for the money, but he's worth it, much more than the money. Who will you replace him with? That would be the first question if I was in the club. I think you would have to pay 200 million to replace him."

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Lovren claimed that Salah started thinking about "a new step" in his career amid the ongoing impasse with Liverpool, as he teased inside information. “I have to be careful what I say now, because I know a lot of things,” Lovren said.

“Everyone wants him to stay, and I personally want him to stay. I called him one day and said: ‘Mo, you have to think about yourself. Look at everything you’ve given this club and what you can still give.’

"In the end, I came to the conclusion that the club doesn’t respect him enough, or at least not as much as they think they deserve, but that’s another side of the story, it’s all about what goes on behind the scenes. He didn’t start thinking about a specific club, but he started thinking about a new step, everyone is shocked, but it’s the truth.

Lovren added that the Reds still have it within them to convince Salah to stay. “He loves Liverpool, by the way,” the 35-year-old added. “He loves Liverpool a lot and he wants to stay, and that’s the most important part, maybe he sees himself retiring there, I’m not entirely sure about that. But in the end it’s not about those around him, it’s about other people.”