Pundit spreads Liverpool panic with Mane, Salah exit talk

Salah Mane TEAMtalk

Andy Gray has warned Liverpool that Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will be looking to leave the club for Spain “sooner rather than later”.

The former Sky Sports anchor and Everton forward has no real foundation for such claims. He even admits to not knowing the pair’s contractual terms at Anfield, but he summises the duo both want to play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Salah has reached the 20-goal mark in the previous two seasons and was just one short this term, while Mane was nominated for the Football Writers’ Player of the Year and was just beaten by Jordan Henderson.

The Senegal forward his 18 Premier League goals and contributed nine assists in 35 games and with the Champions League and Premier League now won, Gray says he could, along with Salah head for LaLiga.

Gray said on beIN SPORTS: “I’ve been saying to you for some time I think he will leave Liverpool sooner rather than later and I think Mane might also.

“If [Salah] told Liverpool ‘by the way, I’m off this summer’, I think they’ve got a real battle on their hands.

“I don’t think Liverpool can afford to lose both of them.

“I don’t know what their contract terms are, I’m not sure how long each has got.”

 

 

Gray claimed that if one asked to leave, then both of them could be eyeing the Anfield exit as players of their calibre are ‘desperate’ to play for one of the big clubs in Spain.

“I guess Mane [would] come up and say: ‘Well, if he’s going I want to go as well’. It’s a double battle.

“You only hope if you’re Liverpool that the success they’ve had – Champions League victory last year, championship this year – that that would be enough to keep them at the club.

“But we know foreign footballers have a different view of the Real Madrids and the Barcelonas of this world.

“They desperately want to play for them, desperately.”

Mane is under contract until 2023 after signing a five-year extension in November 2018.

Salah meanwhile penned a similar deal in the summer of 2018 and he is also tied to the club until 2023.=

‘Let’s see what will happen’

Jurgen Klopp, Mohamed Salah

Salah was recently asked about his future in a live stream with LA FM Colombia, he said: “I just want to enjoy today and enjoy the moment!

“No-one knows the future and what will happen. Let’s see what will happen.

“But at the moment we win the Champions League, we win the Premier League, I’m happy. Let’s see what will happen in the future, but I’m very happy to win and achieve those trophies.”

Reports over the summer have suggested that Liverpool are keen to tie both players to longer contracts at the club.

In May the notorious Don Balon claimed that Real chief  Florentino Perez wanted to make a move for Salah, while coach Zinedine Zidane favoured a move for Sadio Mane.

There was also some noise around Salah with former Egypt assistant coach Hany Ramzy claiming that Salah had received a “really good” proposal from the Spanish giants in the months leading up to the meeting between the sides in the Champions League final last summer.