Paul Gascoigne makes bizarre Mohamed Salah accusation amid Liverpool contract uncertainty

Former Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder Paul Gascoigne has made some strange accusations about Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian is in the final season of his Liverpool contract, with ‘Gazza’ unimpressed by his 2024/25 campaign to date.

Who is the Reds’ top scorer this season? Salah. Who is Liverpool’s leading provider of assists in the Arne Slot era? Salah. Who has 11 goal contributions this season despite only making nine starts? You can see where this is going, can’t you?

Nonetheless, the 32-year-old’s efforts have not impressed Gascoigne. “Salah, I don’t know what’s happening with him this season, he just seems off the boil,” he told SportsCasting. “That’s what happens with a lot of players (who are in the final year of their contract).

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“You get a lot of players who don’t want to get involved too much because they’ll be getting injuries. Look at me, in two days I was signing for Lazio and half an hour later I’m in the hospital with a ligament injury,” Gascoigne added, in reference to when he was stretchered off in the 1991 FA Cup final.

Never mind that he should have been sent off that day, and undoubtedly would’ve been in the modern era. At least he threw himself into challenges with abandon, eh?

If one wanted to be charitable to Gascoigne, Salah’s all-round performance level has fluctuated even while he has been regularly delivering goals and assists. As well as not making contributions to the score line against Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, the Egyptian did not play well in those games overall.

His passing has been off at times too, notably when he failed to make the most of a fast break against Wolves. But to say Salah has been ‘off the boil’ feels a step too far.

Not that Gascoigne is the only ex-player to have recently passed comment on the Liverpool forward and his future. Former Red Graeme Souness has also chipped in.

“Would it surprise me if Salah stayed? Slightly,” he said in the Daily Mail. “Because I think there would be huge appeal to him, as an Egyptian and a Muslim, in earning astronomical money for the next three or four years in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam and a country which has a maritime border with his own,” Souness added.

Speculation will continue until Salah either signs a new contract or declares his intention to leave Liverpool. Chances are he will continue to prove Gascoigne wrong regardless.