Neville definitive on Salah future, Carragher can’t see an issue
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have had their say on the debate surrounding Mo Salah’s future at Liverpool.
Salah posted a picture of himself smiling on Twitter on Monday in response to the talk over the weekend, which the 28-year-old initiated.
The Reds striker, who has scored 13 Premier League goals in 13 appearances this season revealed he was “very disappointed” not to be handed the captaincy against FC Midtjylland.
Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and James Milner were all sidelined for the Champions League game. It meant Salah thought he would get the skipper’s armband.
However, he was overlooked and local-born star Trent Alexander-Arnold was made the captain.
In the same interview with Spanish outlet AS (via The Metro), the Egyptian also revealed his admiration for Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Hi close friend and former international team-mate Mohamed Aboutrika also said the former Roma man was not happy about that particular decision by Klopp. Although there are apparently other reasons why he is unsettled at Anfield.
And Neville thinks Salah will leave, but Carragher does not see it as an issue for the champions.
Neville said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football: “I thought Salah would always leave Liverpool.
“I said it a couple of years ago but it was perhaps a bit premature, but I just always had the feeling that he would want to go and explore the feeling of playing in a different country, that he would have aspirations to do so, so it doesn’t surprise me.”
Neville picked Salah ahead of team-mate Sadio Mane in his Premier League team of 2020.
“The reason I have always chosen Salah over Mane is because he is cold blooded,” he added.
“Mane is a team player, he would put the team first, Salah is cold blooded but that’s not a negative.
“That makes Liverpool vicious as a team because he’s the type to do it again and again, he will not stop.
“That’s probably why the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain are probably in his ear.
“He’s got two-and-a-half years on his contract, I don’t think Liverpool would be forced to sell and they won’t be messed around because they’ve got a strength and authority there in Jurgen Klopp, so they can just relax a little bit.
Carragher cool over Salah
“But there will come a decision in the next six months, the next 18 months, on what to do with him because if he doesn’t sign a new contract, they won’t let him run the contract down, and they’ll see an opportunity to bring in someone else.”
Carragher’s take was relaxed.
He said: “I don’t really think it’s a debate now as much as it was a few years ago.
“I think even when Manchester United were the top dogs and (Cristiano) Ronaldo went to Real Madrid, it felt like a step up because Real Madrid are Real Madrid, but I just feel like the two Spanish giants now have fallen so far.
“I think Salah, he’s got two-and-a-half years to go, I’m not really looking at it as too much of a problem.
“Real Madrid spent a lot of money on (Eden) Hazard when he was that age, it’s just that year or two older. If he did go, it would be massive money, I think his time right now, he’s over that age.”