Salah stays: Egyptian signs two-year deal at Liverpool

LIVERPOOL, England (AP):

Mohamed Salah’s trophy-laden spell with Liverpool is set to extend to a decade after the prolific Egypt forward signed a new contract with the Premier League leader, ending months of uncertainty over his future.

The 32-year-old Salah was one of three key senior players – with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk – due to be out of contract at the end of this season.

He is the first to extend his stay, having already established himself as a club great with 243 goals in 394 appearances, placing him third in the list of Liverpool’s all-time top scorers.

Liverpool didn’t disclose the length of Salah’s new deal in an announcement yesterday but manager Arne Slot did, saying in a news conference it was a two-year contract.

“Of course, I’m very excited,” said Salah, who joined from Roma in 2017 for US$50 million. “We have a great team now. Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.

“It’s great, I had my best years here. I played eight years. Hopefully it’s going to be 10. Enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I had the best years in my career.”

Salah has been either tied or alone as the English Premier League’s top scorer in three seasons, been voted as the league’s player of the year twice, and has lifted seven major trophies, including the Premier League in 2020 and the Champions League in 2019.

11-POINT LEAD

Helped by Salah’s league-leading 27 goals this campaign, Liverpool hold an 11-point lead in the Premier League in their bid for a record-tying 20th English top-flight title.

“I would like to say to (the fans), I am very, very happy to be here,” Salah said. “I signed here because I believe we can win a lot of big trophies together. Keep supporting us and we’ll give it our best, and, hopefully in the future, we’re going to win more trophies.”

Salah’s future at Liverpool appeared in the balance for much of this season. He had been linked with a move to the Saudi league – Liverpool rejected an offer worth a reported US$188 million in 2023 – and, in an apparent show of brinksmanship, gave a number of interviews stating he was playing his last year at the club because he was no closer to agreeing to a new deal.

Slot, however, said he knew for some time that Salah was likely to stay at Liverpool. And he praised sporting director Richard Hughes and the Fenway Sports Group ownership for securing the forward’s future, which meant deviating from the club’s policy of not handing players over 30 years of age lucrative new contracts.