Mo Salah sends message to Arne Slot and Michael Edwards as Saudi Arabia transfer links remain

Mohamed Salah continues to be the subject of speculation at Liverpool — and not just about whether or not he's had a hair transplant. There are far more serious questions about the Egyptian's immediate and longer-term future.

Still the subject of Saudi transfer interest, Liverpool ace Salah is also entering the final year of his contract. In the same boat as Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, that situation has brought uncertainty.

While nobody would want to lose Alexander-Arnold, there have been one or two more who are willing to countenance the departure of Salah, especially if Saudi Arabia lines up a bumper transfer offer. Given his age and his form in the second part of last season, the case has been made that Michael Edwards should cash in, giving Arne Slot the freedom to build around new stars.

READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Caoimhin Kelleher price, Eberechi Eze interest amid release clause

READ MORE: Michael Edwards has already embarrassed Sir Jim Ratcliffe as Man Utd in chaos

There's no indication that either Edwards or Slot were ever thinking along these lines. In fact, for months now, the consensus has been that Liverpool intends to keep Salah for at least one more season, and will even try to open contract talks in due course.

But Edwards in particular is known for a ruthless streak. And with Salah set to turn 32, the man now effectively in charge of footballing operations may yet need some persuading to once again part with massive sums in order to keep him at the club beyond the coming season.

Salah can set about doing that in earnest once he is back at Liverpool and working under Slot. But he sent an advance message in the final game of Egypt duty, where he bagged an incredible goal before heading off on his summer break.

Unlike a lot of Liverpool stars, Salah is not at an international tournament this summer. But he has been trying to book a place at the 2026 World Cup, playing qualifiers with Egypt.

Up against Guinea-Bissau, he rescued a point for his country in spectacular fashion. The 70th-minute equalizer truly rolled back the years.

Salah often has a more central starting role for Egypt, but he was cutting in from the right here. Always looking to bend that left-footed shot, he finally found the angle after leaving three defenders trailing, and curled an unstoppable effort into the top corner of the goal.

It almost said 'sell me at your peril' to Slot and Edwards. For club and country, Salah continues to find ways to be the main man, and Liverpool would have to go some way in the transfer market to replace the game-changing impact he has consistently shown over the last seven years.

Liverpool.com says: Once a trademark goal for Salah at Liverpool, we've not seen a strike like this for a while. But it was a reminder that his world-class ability has not gone anywhere.

And regardless of how he is scoring (or creating for others), this was just the latest example of Salah stepping up to be the difference-maker. Even as he struggled at Liverpool after picking up the injury with Egypt last season, he was still often the one to find the back of the net, and neither Slot nor Edwards can take that quality lightly. Fortunately, they don't seem to be doing so.