Mohamed Salah and Liverpool agreed a deal to extend their relationship in April. The club legend’s contract was set to expire at the end of June and the length of time it took suggested doubts on both sides.
Those involved will have been focused on length of contract… and of course money.
For Liverpool, there will have been concern about giving anything other than a one year deal to a player who would be 33-years-of-age before the end of his existing contract. On the player’s side, a feeling of due reward and respect would have been their guide.
Had those in power at Anfield decided it was best to part ways, Liverpool would have had no control over what happened next. Salah would have had the opportunity to join near enough any club he wanted. Down the road, that presented the danger of providing very Red faces for those decision makers.
Salah lighting up another European league, or perhaps even the same one, would have been uncomfortable. Had Liverpool been having the season they are now, it would have been excruciating.
Face to be saved, bets to be hedged
At this point it is possible to consider Liverpool – and crucially those above Arne Slot – hatched a plan. What if they could renew Salah for two years to facilitate a possible transfer fee and, at the same time, distinguish the potential fire of criticism for pushing him out?
Salah, in incredible form at the time despite his age, would be kept as an asset. Concurrently he would essentially be replaced as the forefront of the team. That would then frustrate the legend and an exit would be amicable, with fans understanding the process.
Liverpool would not only be able to swerve a decision to let Salah go, but also collect a transfer fee.
A month after the renewal, Florian Wirtz’s parents flew into Blackpool on a private jet, reportedly for meetings with both Liverpool and Manchester City. At that time, Bayern Munich were still in the picture.
The Wirtz camp clearly thought hard about which club was best. Whatever Liverpool’s exact arguments were will stay in that room, or be dripped out via favourable leaks.
Which brings us to Germany, and a Mohamed Salah character assassination which has been a mixture of wild and intriguing.
Florian Wirtz is not the only German international to move for big money from Bundesliga to Premier League. When others before him have stuttered, they’ve sometimes been supported but not to the same extent.
And crucially, if they initially faltered there hasn’t been one man blamed.
Until the Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz dynamic displayed by Bild and SportBild.
To set the context, Bild is not only the biggest selling newspaper in Germany but also in Europe. SportBild is their weekly sports focused magazine, and they are essentially the same. What is published in one is usually published in the other.
In October, blame was nudged towards Salah for missing a ‘mega chance’ against Chelsea and depriving Wirtz of an assist. On November 11th, an article was published which essentially said anyone in England doubting the German international is clueless.
Salah presented as problem for Wirtz and Liverpool
Then came the big one. SportBild published an article titled ‘Salah becomes a problem for Wirtz’. The November 19th article, from their Leverkusen correspondent, was so much of an attack on the Egyptian that it felt odd.
The player was blamed for Wirtz’s failure to shine since his record breaking transfer. Salah was described as selfish, with his time in top level football ‘running out’. A quick move to Saudi Arabia was talked up twice.
SportBild explained the veteran had been failing to silence the ‘big whisper’ in Liverpool’s dressing room, which they said was: ‘Why does Salah so rarely pass to Wirtz and the other top signings of the struggling champions when they are better positioned in front of goal?’
They added: ‘The German international is considered internally to be the new leader of Liverpool’s attack.
‘He (Salah) alone could have set up four goals for Wirtz this season. This was the case in the 5-1 Champions League win in Frankfurt, the 1-2 derby defeat against Manchester United, the 1-0 win against Real Madrid, and then against City. Salah is increasingly becoming a major problem for Liverpool and Wirtz!
‘In the dressing room, the selfishness of the right winger, who scored 34 goals and provided 23 assists in all competitions last season, has long been a topic of discussion.
‘Wirtz has the club’s backing. According to SPORT BILD, there is no doubt that he is intended to be the leader of the future. Salah represents the past.’
That hit piece alone was enough to raise eyebrows. Who was passing this information to SportBild and did it reflect a wider feeling at Liverpool?
Such was the nature of the attack, it got widespread coverage in the UK and will likely have been noted by Salah’s camp.
SportBild were at it again a week later. It was claimed that during the defeat to PSV Eindhoven ‘Everyone could see that Salah’s ego was poison for the team’.
A dressing room split was an issue, and ‘players confide in friends that they aren’t a team, it’s a mix of the established players and the newcomers’.
Arne Slot was said to have promised Wirtz the leading role when he signed, and now was seen as the time to change the guard. The German reporting made it clear someone was passing a general message that Salah is the past and Wirtz has been assured he’s absolutely the No.1 for the future.
This being Liverpool’s plan from the outset looks increasingly likely. Those in charge will have expected it to go a bit differently, with Salah handing over his crown as the Reds charged to another Premier League title.
Instead, Slot’s struggle to get the best out of his team has seen bitterness grow. Perhaps the German media have been best at using their inside information to demonstrate that. Their agenda was Wirtz propaganda, but the Salah targeting heavily suggested a message had been sent about him being pushed out.
Liverpool legend makes himself the villain
As it came to a head with zero minutes against Leeds United, Salah exploded in the mixed zone and made himself the villain. Should it be true that Liverpool were planning his exit even when renewing, their wildest Machiavellian hopes couldn’t have pencilled that in.
Frustration got the better of the 33-year-old and it all came out.
What has followed has been a character assassination that would make even SportBild blush. Liverpool’s favoured media and cartoonishly loyal pundits have taken their roles with glee.
Chief among them: Mr. Jamie Carragher.
Whilst the specifics of Carragher’s performance may well be entertaining, and inevitably included slamming Salah’s failed parenting of little Florian, the message was always going to be the same. Mohamed Salah has betrayed Liverpool and is now questionable as a footballer and human being generally. Nuance was absent and became more distant when Jamie visibly reddened as he was reminded he’d been personally mentioned by the player.
The scene is set. Salah has an attitude problem. Liverpool are largely blameless and a quick exit is the answer. It may not be exactly how the club planned, but it doesn’t appear to be too far from it.
