Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has put pen to paper on a contract extension to give his club a huge boost going into the final few weeks of the Premier League season. However, there was a time when it looked as though he was on his way.
The league’s top scorer could bring up a decade at Anfield if he sees out the new deal, which is thought to run until 2027. Liverpool are firm favourites to end the current season as Premier League champions, with what would be a second English top-flight title for the Egyptian.
“I think I said in the beginning of the season, I just want to win the Premier League more than anything else,” Salah said after his new deal was confirmed. “I want it so bad, to be fair.
“The fans deserve it – last time we won it we didn’t celebrate it that much. Hopefully we do it this time. There’s still seven games to go, it’s not going to be easy at all because Arsenal are also catching up.
“We’ll give it our all and hopefully in the end we can win it,” he added. His new deal makes frustrating reading for some of his previous suitors, though, and Mirror Football has looked at some of the clubs linked with him over the years who will be looking at other targets this summer.
Saudi club Al Ittihad made the biggest concerted effort to coax Salah away from Anfield before his extension. They made a huge £150million approach back in 2023, but Liverpool would have been left with no time to source a replacement.
They had already made big moves earlier that summer, bringing in French internationals N’Golo Kante and Karim Benzema on hefty wages. Former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho also moved to Jeddah, though he ultimately wouldn’t be joined by Salah.
Al Ittihad finished that season down in fifth, failing to qualify for continental competition. They look in better shape now, with new boss Laurent Blanc putting them within touching distance of the title, but they’ll have to look elsewhere if they want attacking reinforcements.
Al Ittihad aren’t the only Saudi Pro League side to have been linked with Salah. Al Hilal were also mentioned as potential suitors in 2023, but they had already spent big on Neymar and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Neymar has since departed, returning to Brazil with Santos after an injury-hit time in the gulf. Mitrovic has been more of a success, though, firing the club to the title last season and scoring 21 times in all competitions this term despite injury issues of his own.
Summer signing Marcos Leonardo has hit the ground running this term, with his 17 league goals putting him joint-third in the league standings. Al Hilal may feel they’re in a position to wait and see how realistic a move for Salah might be in a couple of years’ time.
There have been a few moments in the last few years when Real Madrid have been linked with a Salah swoop. They haven’t always particularly needed a new superstar forward, but that hasn’t exactly stopped them before.
Madrid remain in pole position to sign Salah’s team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold. However, they won’t be rubbing salt into the wound by reuniting the defender with his long-time Anfield colleague.
Of course, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side at risk of falling short in La Liga and the Champions League, there may yet be big summer moves at the Bernabeu. It might just be that one of them comes in the dugout, with former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso strongly linked, and he may have his own ideas when it comes to recruitment.
Back in November, it emerged that Barcelona were exploring a Salah swoop of their own. He never looked to be their main priority, with Barca continuing to make clear their fondness for youth as they remain set on Nico Williams.
Arsenal are set to provide competition for Athletic Club and Spain star Williams this summer. If Barca miss out on the 22-year-old, though, then they won’t be able to make Salah their consolation prize.
It might not matter now, though. With Raphinha and Lamine Yamal providing a devastating combination from the flanks, Hansi Flick’s side have reason to be pretty happy with what they’ve got.
Back in December, L’Equipe suggested Salah had a good chance of moving to PSG in the summer. The French publication pointed to the forward’s good relationship with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, though the Qatari insisted no approach had been made.
“I have big respect for him and for Liverpool,” Al-Khelaifi said at the Club World Cup draw. “So we never talked to him. Respect Liverpool and respect the player – he has a contract with Liverpool and we never talked to him.”
There was a time when PSG’s transfer policy would have made Salah the kind of big name at the top of their list. They have tended to prefer younger players of late, though, with the likes of Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola playing their part in an unbeaten league season.
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