Liverpool fell ‘below expectations’ in offer to star as Salah proposal ‘expected very soon’ – Ornstein
The Athletic journalist David Ornstein expects Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah to “receive an offer very soon” as Virgil van Dijk talks continue.
The Reds have been flying in the Premier League this season with Arne Slot guiding them to 11 wins from 14 matches so far.
Liverpool had a rare slip-up on Wednesday night as they were held to a 3-3 draw late on by Newcastle United as Arsenal and Chelsea moved to seven points behind Slot’s Premier League leaders.
Slot could hardly have wished for a better start as Liverpool boss with the Reds also top of the Champions League group stage table after beating Real Madrid 2-0 last week.
The Dutchman has had to deal with some off-field issues too with Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all out of contract in the summer.
And now The Athletic‘s Ornstein has brought the latest Salah and Van Dijk’s contract situations at Liverpool with the latter receiving an offer “below his expectations”.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Ornstein said: “An offer has gone to Virgil van Dijk, which hasn’t happened so far with Mo Salah. I do expected Salah to receive an offer very soon. Why he hasn’t so far and Van Dijk has is something maybe only Liverpool can explain.
“Perhaps they are prioritising their captain, perhaps the gap between what they are prepared to offer Salah and what he wants is such that you don’t go to him with a proposal if you fear it may antagonise him.
“In the case of Van Dijk, talks have been going on for some time and, within that, an offer has been made; an opening proposal.
“It’s understood it fell below his expectations and, so far, there is no breakthrough on either the value of a potential new deal or the duration of it. That’s not to say it won’t happen and talks are continuing.
“Fenway Sports Group, the ownership, have a big decision to make. It breaks their policy to go big on a contract for over 30-year-old players, which both of them are.”
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Salah recently did an interview in which he revealed he’d not received a contract offer from Liverpool, which sparked a backlash from Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who labelled him “selfish”.
Carragher said on Sky Sports: “Of course there’s been discussions. Right now, there’s obviously a big difference in valuation, how Salah and his agent value themselves, in terms of length of contract, and how Liverpool do.
“So the reason Liverpool wouldn’t have offered a contract yet is because Mo Salah will turn it down. 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. That interview last night… Liverpool have Real Madrid in midweek and Manchester City next weekend.
“That’s the story for Liverpool right now. And Mo Salah, we’re aware – certainly the local reporters near the club – that in seven years he’s stopped in the mixed zone twice. That’s absolutely fine. But he stops for the third time away at Southampton on the back of winning Liverpool the game and putting that out.
“Now the most important thing for Liverpool this season is not the future of Mo Salah, it’s not the future of Virgil van Dijk and it’s not the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold. 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.”
