Salah is right to say and do what is right for him and his family

When is the right timing for Mohamad Salah to speak about his current contract situation at Liverpool? 

After their most recent Premier League victory against Southampton, Salah expressed how he hadn’t received any offers to stay at the club and that he saw his future with Liverpool as “more out than in”. 

Following his comments, Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher criticised the Egyptian superstar’s decision to stop in the mixed zone and express his opinion ahead of their two crucial games against Real Madrid and Manchester City. 

Carragher went on to suggest that Salah and his agent are more concerned with their own needs rather than the football.

It’s no secret that when it comes to Liverpool Carragher has the blinkers on. 

He only sees the best in the club. Of course, he could be playing a game by saying all the right things that he knows will make Liverpool fans adore him more. 

Deep down he might actually agree with Salah’s actions but doesn’t want to publicly say this because he knows by doing so would mean that it could damage his relationship with those inside Liverpool football club.

Salah has every right to be selfish. 

He did know what he was doing by giving that interview in the mix zone. He’s seldom gone into it in the past to do interviews so it probably was planned by him. 

He knows when it comes to him, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk that the number one question on the media’s lips is going to be about their contract situation. 

But why shouldn’t Salah make it known publicly about his contract situation? 

It’s better that a player is honest about his situation rather than give it the standard ‘we just have to wait and see’ or ‘all I want to do at the moment is concentrate on my football’ answers. 

Salah’s comments suggest that the player is willing to stay as long as the offer is right. 

There might not have been a solid offer from Liverpool yet but you can be sure there has been talks between Salah’s representatives and the club. 

There’s no doubt that Liverpool want to keep the Egyptian but not on high risk terms. 

Salah is currently the Reds’ highest paid player on close to €450,000-a-week and it is rumoured the 32-year-old would like to extend his contract by three years on a similar amount.

I can understand why Liverpool are reluctant to give into these demands because although Salah does seem like the ultimate professional his best years are probably behind him and it is a big risk for Liverpool to give such a lengthy high paying contract to an aging player.

Although Salah appears to be getting better with age, in sport, age can catch-up with you out of nowhere. 

Players can lose a yard of pace very quickly. Salah is an intelligent player but pace is one of his main attributes and were he to lose it, I don’t think he would affect a game as much.

After seeing what happened with players like Mezut Ozil and Pierre Aubameyang, whose form dropped off once they signed long-term deals with Arsenal, has probably created doubts in those on the Liverpool board’s minds. 

At the times of giving Ozil and Aubameyang new contracts, both were in good form but that almost immediately stopped once they signed their new deals. 

It seemed Ozil’s and Aubameyang’s hunger went, and who's to say the same thing wouldn’t happen to Salah.

However I think he was right with his actions. 

He was clever because he knew by doing what he did whilst in such good form, and after scoring two goals in the game, it would cause Liverpool fans to put pressure on the board to offer Salah a new deal. 

He has every right to put himself ahead of the club. At the moment he has a strong hand in negotiations, meaning he has the best chance of getting the outcome he wants. 

Carragher talks about not putting the club first but what Salah is doing is putting his family first because the sooner he knows his situation, the quicker his family can prepare for their future.