Mohamed Salah’s incredible season continues. The Liverpool forward scored his 26th goal of the season from just 34 appearances in the Reds’ 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night.

He boasts a career-best 18 assists too, having crossed for Cody Gakpo to score the opener, while it was his through-ball to Darwin Nunez that led to the penalty which gave him the chance to get his own name on the scoresheet.

The Premier League’s leading goalscorer and playmaker, he is also the current favourite to win the Ballon d’Or this season. Yet Europe’s most in-form player still faces an uncertain future, with his contract set to expire in the summer.

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Salah has publicly admitted more than once that would prefer to extend his stay at Anfield. But with a breakthrough in negotiations still lacking, he has also conceded that as things stand, he is treating the current season as his final at the club.

That arguably gives him extra motivation to win major honours this season, with the 32-year-old previously suggesting he is prioritising winning the Premier League in case it does prove to be his last chance to actually celebrate becoming Champions of England with the Liverpool fanbase.

Yet after helping fire the Reds into next month’s League Cup final, he arguably has extra motivation for that Wembley showdown against Newcastle United too.

He missed last year’s final against Chelsea through injury, meaning you have to go back to the 2022 FA Cup final for the last time he lifted significant silverware. Even then, he was forced off 33 minutes that day through injury.

While not as heartbreaking as when he was substituted in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid, it was still a bitter blow.

Salah has won every major honour with Liverpool, but he could be forgiven if he was underwhelmed by his own contributions to such occasions. After all, while he might boast numerous winner’s medals, he has often not had the impact that he would have desired.

He has admittedly won six of his 10 finals with the Reds - not including last year’s missed League Cup final - yet he has only scored two penalties and registered one assist across those games. Scoring from the penalty spot in the 2019 Champions League final over Tottenham Hotspur, his other two final goal contributions came in the 2022 Community Shield win over Man City.

Five of those finals have been decided by penalties, with Salah admittedly scoring in four of those shootouts, while a sixth has been decided in extra-time. He has no goals or assists from these matches, with Liverpool scoring just five goals in these tightly-fought encounters.

A serial winner with the highest of expectations and standards, it is curious that one of the greatest players of his generation has not made more of an impact when silverware is directly up for grabs.

He will look to set that record straight against Newcastle at Wembley on March 16. While the Reds might still be competing on all four fronts, the League Cup final currently offers his only guarantee of a shot at silverware in what could prove to be his final season at the club.

Yet in helping fire Liverpool to Wembley, extending his incredible scoring and assisting form, Salah once again sent a reminder of why it seems so ridiculous that the Reds’ star man could leave Anfield for free this summer.

And it came up against the contrasting fortunes of a player he has regularly battled with in recent years - and one who former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp bemoaned not signing as ‘one of the biggest mistakes in my life.’

Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min is his own club’s star player and recently had his own contract extended by a further year. But while Salah is enjoying the season of his life, it is a very different story for the player he shared the 2021/22 Premier League Golden Boot with.

The South Korean - who is only three weeks younger than Salah - had Spurs’ best chance at Anfield on Thursday as he was denied by the crossbar. Yet he was largely anonymous against the Reds.

Failing to register a shot on target, successful dribble or key pass, he touched the ball only 29 times and completed just 10 passes.

It was a similar story in the previous two meetings between the sides this season. In Spurs’ 1-0 win in the semi-final first leg, he again didn’t manage a shot on target or successful dribble, only played 10 successful passes and touched the ball just 24 times.

And in December’s 6-3 Liverpool win, Son again did not test Alisson in the Reds goal, didn’t register a key pass and completed only one successful dribble. From the same three matches, Salah enjoyed three goals and three assists.

Such below-par showings from Son go somewhat against the grain to the forward’s usually impressive record against Liverpool. Prior to this season, he had returned six goals and an assist from his last seven meetings with the Reds.

Yet with Tottenham struggling this season, down in 14th in the Premier League table and 29 points behind Liverpool, Son’s own woes are not limited to just meetings with the Reds.

The 32-year-old has 10 goals and eight assists this season from 32 games, but has only scored six times in the Premier League. Having broken the 20-goal four times in the past eight seasons and only failed to return more than 17 goals once during that time, Son’s struggles are uncharacteristic.

A virtual ever-present for the majority of his Spurs career, the forward has also been troubled by injury this year. While he has only missed six matches, it still stacks up against his previously impeccable availability.

Perhaps it is just a sign of natural decline, with Son set to turn 33 this summer. He would not be the first forward in this 1991/92 group to see age swiftly catch up on them.

Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Neymar all fall into the same category. Once some of the finest forwards of their generation, they are now plying their trade in Saudi Arabia and Brazil respectively.

Yet as they struggle to live up to previous heights, having stepped away from centre stage, Salah continues to get better and better. It should act as a reminder of the superhuman specimen Liverpool have on their hands.

Admittedly, it can act also as a reminder of what perhaps looms in Salah’s future and why an agreement over a new contract has not yet been reached.

But Salah still stands tallest in contrast to these former peers. Rather than Son’s own drop-off acting as a warning to the Reds when it comes to their ongoing contract talks, it should instead remind Liverpool bosses that their Egyptian King is, to quote Jose Mourinho, not one of the bottle. He is a truly special footballer.

Now guaranteed at least one final final against Newcastle, it is up to Salah and the Reds to find a way to ensure that this season is not the end of their Liverpool story.