Mohamed Salah's transfer U-turn and £150m bid speaks volumes amid Liverpool saga

Arne Slot is under immense pressure to offer Mohamed Salah a new contract before it's too late for Liverpool.

The 32-year-old Egyptian has been a stalwart at Anfield since arriving from Roma seven years ago, helping the Reds win their maiden Premier League title in the 2019/20 campaign, as well as a Champions League a year earlier. Despite approaching the twilight years of his career, Salah has shown that he can still cut the mustard in the English top flight.

The forward has scored 10 goals and bagged six assists in 12 Premier League games under Slot, making his total tally 223 goals and 99 assists in 367 games across all competitions. However, Salah's contract is set to expire at the end of the current campaign, and Slot and the Anfield elite have yet to offer him a new deal.

Interestingly, it's not the first time Salah's future on Merseyside has been in question. Al-Ittihad made a whopping £150million offer for the international superstar on the deadline day of the 2023 summer transfer window - only for Liverpool to shoot down the offer outright.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and PSG were all monitoring Salah across 2021 - prior to his last contract extension with Liverpool. While Salah previously admitted that he could "one day" play for one of the La Liga giants, reports at the time also suggested that the forward was considering a "dream" move to PSG.

Salah ultimately stalled on signing a new contract with Liverpool, with his old deal expiring in 2023. Barcelona, meanwhile, promised to sign the star on a free transfer last summer if his deal was to run down - but Salah made a dramatic U-turn on the decision and decided to commit his future at Liverpool, penning a big-money deal.

Salah will be free to talk with clubs in January should a new contract fail to materialise, and as he is still scoring goals for fun in one of the world's most physically demanding leagues, the Egyptian should have little-to-no trouble finding a new suitor.

Salah recently revealed he feels "more out than in" at Liverpool, but his intentions are clear in that he holds the club close to his heart and wants to remain at Anfield for the foreseeable future. He recently explained: "We are almost in December and I haven't received any offers yet to stay in the club. I'm probably more out than in.

"You know I have been in the club for many years. There is no club like this. But in the end it is not in my hands. As I said before, it is December and I haven't received anything yet about my future. I love the fans. The fans love me. In the end it is not in my hands or the fans' hands. Let's wait and see."

However, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has branded Salah's comments selfish, explaining that he should be more focused on winning the Premier League than a new contract. He told Monday Night Football: "Right now there's obviously a big difference in the valuation.

"What Mo Salah and his agent value themselves at, whether that's financially or in terms of length of contract, to what Liverpool do. So the reason Liverpool wouldn't have offered a contract yet is because Mo Salah will turn it down, so they're still in talks. I'm desperate for them to meet in the middle, but I must say I am very disappointed with Mo Salah."

He added: "The most important thing is Liverpool winning the Premier League. That is more important than any of those players, and if he continues to put comments out or his agent keeps putting cryptic tweets out, that's selfish, that's thinking about themselves and not the football club."

Salah isn't the only Liverpool star who finds himself out of contract in the summer either, with captain Virgil Van Dijk and full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold also seeing their current deals expire in 2025. Van Dijk is believed to be seeking a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2027, while Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid as first-choice right-back Dani Carvajal remains sidelined with an ACL injury.