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I have waited years for Mohamed Salah to speak - FSG message couldn't be clearer for Liverpool
Mohamed Salah has made a career out of giving as many reporters the slip as he has Premier League defenders during his time at Liverpool, turning down weekly requests to stop and chat after matches with polite rejections. So when the Reds star was asked yet again to speak to those huddled outside at Southampton on Sunday evening, it felt, as it always does with him, like the most optimistic of Hail Marys.
It's become something of a running joke between those regularly covering Reds games and the man himself. The question comes, the smile widens and then the respectful 'not today, sorry' comes. The routine has been played out across so many of his 367 appearances for the club but after scoring twice to help Arne Slot's side sail eight points clear of Manchester City with a 3-2 win at St Mary's on Sunday, Salah bucked a near eight-year trend.
Only twice previously has the Egypt captain stopped to talk to those who cover Liverpool games up and down the land. When he reached 40 goals in his maiden season - to deliver on a promise made just after he had reached 30 - and when he became a Champions League winner in June 2019.
READ MORE: Mohamed Salah speaks out on Liverpool contract and admits he's 'disappointed' in rare interview
Aside from that, a pledge to go on the record if the Reds completed an unprecedented quadruple in 2022 didn't come to fruition before he set the news agenda ablaze with a statement suggesting "there will be fire if I speak today" after a pitchside spat with Jurgen Klopp in a draw at West Ham in April.
With the wind howling and rain battering down on the team coach just to his left, it would have been easy for Salah to turn down the latest requests and hop on board with his colleagues. So when he approached the handful of journalists instead, the idea that he had something to get off his chest was inescapable. And with barely six months left on his Liverpool contract, it was obvious the Egyptian wanted to make a point about the impasse.
"Well, we are almost in December and I haven't received any offers yet to stay in the club, [so] I'm probably more out than in," Salah conceded when the conversation inevitably turned to his long-term future.
"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. Of course [no offer is disappointing], yeah."
While not overstepping the mark, it was remarkably candid from Liverpool's 12-goal top scorer. With just five weeks left before he can legally speak to clubs outside of England about a pre-contract agreement, to claim that a formal offer has yet to be tabled has put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Supporters will question what is happening behind the scenes with owners Fenway Sports Group, their 'CEO of football' Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes, even if there is plenty of nuance to a situation that isn't as straightforward as simply rewarding your top scorer with an improved contract.
The ECHO learned in September that Salah was desperate to stay and his latest indications have been the first public confirmation of that. He is in no mood to retire or shuffle off to a league that is not as intense or as high profile as the one he is currently dominating with the leaders.
"I'm not going to retire soon so I'm just playing," he added, "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.
"I'm very professional. Everybody can see my work ethic. I'm just trying to enjoy my football and I will play at the top level as long as possible. I'm just doing my best because this is who I am and I try to give it all for myself and for the club. We will see what happens next."
Salah was the subject of an offer from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad in August 2023, but FSG president Mike Gordon personally declined a bid worth up to £150m. Asked if a move to Saudi Arabia could be part of the thinking if a new deal is not agreed at Anfield, Salah added: "I don't want to speak about that. I am focused with the team now."
Salah is the highest-paid player in Anfield history at somewhere between £350,000 and £400,000, with the terms he penned on the Greek island of Mykonos two-and-a-half-years ago handed out in the belief at ownership level that he would continue to post the sort of numbers he previously had between 2017 and 2022.
The No.11 has since scored 67 times and claimed 39 assists since then, so any concern of a drop off as he ages are perhaps not based on the evidence shown by Salah but rather rooted in more general thought processes and data on players in their early-to-mid 30s.
But while Salah's public declarations might make supporters wince at the prospect of losing him, it is understood that discussions with agent Ramy Abbas are ongoing. They have been described as positive talks to the ECHO, and while a running commentary won't be provided while the uncertainty drags on, work is being done behind the scenes.
If few things of this complex and fascinating impasse are clear, what is now obvious is Salah's desire to see what is on offer at the club he has represented with distinction for nearly eight years before feeling a need to search across the rest of the football world.
Abbas, the Colombian solicitor who has represented Salah across his entire Liverpool career, will no doubt be inundated with the sort of offers that will make the mind boggle and time is running out for Liverpool to, officially at least, keep the vultures from circling.
However, there is a legitimate school of thought that suggests Salah has few genuine options due to the financial plight of Barcelona, the well-stocked superstar reel of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain's apparent shift in attitudes over the pursuit of high-profile players of Salah's ilk in 2025. The lack of intensity and overall quality of the Saudi Pro League has also been explained as a negative factor against moving to the Middle East, where he will be hero worshipped as one of the biggest Muslim athletes on the planet.
Salah is settled in the north west, where he is able to live in relative anonymity in comparison to how brightly the spotlight will burn in Saudi Arabia and its neighbouring regions. He is one of several Premier League stars from Liverpool, Manchester City and United who live in his general area, so public sightings are not uncommon, making it relatively easier to live a more 'normal' life. That is perhaps also a contributing factor behind his willingness to stay put.
Maybe, the lack of a formal offer - semantics on Salah's part or otherwise - is down to the idea that the options for pastures new are actually dwindling? There will be dozens of clubs across the world who will be putting that theory to the test when the calendars are flipped on to January 2025, however, so Liverpool might want to tread lightly over that.
Salah's pointed comments, to some supporters, might be viewed as counterproductive at such a important juncture of the campaign and the gentle rocking of the boat may not be ideal for Slot as he gets set to speak to the media on Tuesday before Wednesday's visit from Real Madrid.
However, the fact that the famously elusive Salah was so happy to give his feelings directly on Sunday should serve as a powerful volley across the court of FSG, Liverpool and its leadership team. The player's unmistakable demand was clear: put the offer on the table.
