Mohamed Salah's future remains a major cause for concern at Liverpool. With every goal and assist he records in this remarkable season, the thought of him leaving for nothing in the summer becomes more and more daunting.

So, Dejan Lovren's comments this week won't have filled any supporters with much hope. The defender, who was of course great friends with Salah during his time at Anfield and has stayed in touch with the Egyptian, has suggested that he may well be edging toward the exit door.

"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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Like Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Salah is out of contract at the end of the season. While his teammates have stayed relatively quiet though, the 32-year-old has been rather outspoken, particularly after the win at Southampton back in November.

His comments in the mixed zone at St Mary's raised eyebrows both at Liverpool and across the world, with Reds legend Jamie Carragher branding him selfish.

Speaking to the media, he said: "Well, we are almost in December and I haven't received any offers yet to stay in the club. I'm probably more out than in.

"You know I have been in the club for many years. There is no club like this. But in the end it is not in my hands. As I said before, it is December and I haven't received anything yet about my future.

"I love the fans. The fans love me. In the end it is not in my hands or the fans' hands. Let's wait and see. I'm not going to retire soon so I'm just playing, focusing on the season and I'm trying to win the Premier League and hopefully the Champions League as well. I'm disappointed but we will see."

It came on the back of comments following the win over Brighton, when the forward posted a message on social media that seemed to be offering a cryptic hint over his future.

"Top of the table is where this club belongs," he wrote on Instagram. "Nothing less. All teams win matches but there’s only 1 champion in the end. That’s what we want. Thank you for your support last night. No matter what happens, I will never forget what scoring at Anfield feels like.”

It wasn't the first time he has hinted he could be departing Liverpool this season. Interviews with Salah do tend to be quite rare, but he spoke candidly about his situation ahead of facing Manchester United in September.

"Before the season, I was just like ‘I've got one year left, let's just enjoy it and don't think about the contract’," Salah told Sky Sports.

"I don't want to think about next year or the future, I just want to enjoy the last year and let's see. The most important thing is to take one day at a time and just be grateful to be here."

Having then scored in the 3-0 win at Old Trafford, Salah once again seemed to suggest that his time at Liverpool might be coming to an end.

"Honestly I had a good summer, I had a long time to stay with myself and try to think positive. As you know it's my last year in the club,” he told former teammate Daniel Sturridge.

"I just want to enjoy it and not think about it. I feel I'm free to play football and we'll see what will happen next year."

He then added: "I was coming to the game, I said look, it could be the last time [coming to Old Trafford]. Nobody talked to me yet about contracts, so I just play my last season, and we'll see at the end of the season. But so far, yeah, my last game here with Liverpool."

Since his comments at Southampton, Salah has been offered a new deal by Liverpool, although at this moment in time, there is still no sign of him putting pen to paper, despite reports suggesting otherwise. In fact, the man himself has suggested he is still a long way away from coming to an agreement with the club.

"So far, yes. It's the last six months [of my time at Liverpool]," Salah said in an interview with Sky Sports in January. "There is no progress there. We are far away from any progress. So, we just need to wait and see."

This article was first published on November 4. It has since been updated.