Egyptian Sport Minister Left Disappointed By Salah Liverpool Decision

After the weekend brought us a round of unreliable rumours suggesting there had been significant movement towards a new Liverpool deal for Mohamed Salah, today brings us another sign that the world’s best player is set to extend his stay.

Rather bizarrely, it’s due to Egypt’s minister for sport revealing that following his nation’s World Cup qualification disappointment, he suggested it was time for Salah to find a new club—only to be told Salah planned to stay with the Reds long-term.

“I met with Mohamed Salah at the airport after the end of the Senegal match and the failure to reach the World Cup finals and said to him to forget what happened and focus on what’s next,” Ashraf Sobhi said on radio as first reported in England by Metro.

“I have advised him to continue his journey at a club other than Liverpool, but his direction now is to renew his contract with Liverpool. There are campaigns against Salah directed by some to bring him down, but I asked him not to pay attention to them.”

The most likely alternatives for Salah likely would have been Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Juventus—with an outside chance Barcelona could come calling if they could line up sufficient finances to do a mega deal for the superstar forward.

At his pre-match press conference on Monday, manager Jürgen Klopp said that he was happy with the situation and acknowledged that negotiations between the player and club had re-started after having appeared to have stalled over the winter.

“I am happy with it because there’s nothing new to say, and that’s good,” were Klopp’s latest words on the Salah ongoing contract situation. “Just good, that the decisive parties are now talking to each other. That’s all I need, that’s it.”