Alan Shearer outlined the brutal nature of football as he weighed into Mo Salah’s contract standoff with Liverpool.
The Reds superstar is in the final year of his current deal and has regularly admitted this could be his final season at Anfield, revealing he is yet to be offered a new contract. His most recent comments on the saga came after he scored in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Premier League title rivals Manchester City.
He said: “Honestly it’s in my head. Until now this is the last City game I will play for Liverpool [at home] so I was just going to enjoy it.”
It is a theme he has mentioned before as time ticks down on the remainder of his deal with a successful resolution not yet in sight. The contracts of Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are also up at the end of the season, making it an important period for Liverpool's future.
However, it is Salah’s situation which is hogging the headlines. While Liverpool may be uncomfortable with the 32-year-old's public statements, Shearer has no sympathy with the Reds, pointing out that clubs are willing to move players on if they are surplus to requirements. The Newcastle legend also admits it works both ways, too.
“It all depends on how talks go, I have no sympathy for the football club, that’s just the way it is and how football is,” the Match of the Day pundit told Betfair.
“When clubs want to get rid of you as a footballer, they get rid of you. There’s no sympathy from them – there’s no hard feelings, if they don’t want to give you a new deal then you’re out of the door sharpish, so it works both ways.
“Mo Salah came out after the Southampton game [last month] and said what the situation is. I haven’t got a problem with that. That’s him doing his negotiations, and he’s also doing his negotiations on the pitch by putting the ball in the back of the net.”
Shearer also insisted that Liverpool shouldn’t just bow to Salah’s demands. The Newcastle icon added: “I keep hearing people say they should give them what they want. You can't give players what they want because when other players are up for a new contract they'll want exactly the same.
“So, who's to say Salah doesn't want £1million per week? And then Van Dijk will argue that he wants what Salah is getting because he feels as if he's as important, if not more important than Salah.
“So you can't just give players what they want. There's always a middle ground somewhere that you have to settle for.”