Mohamed Salah has just won a share of the Premier League Golden Boot, alongside Spurs’ star Heung-Min Son, and he’s about to spearhead Liverpool’s attack in the Champions League final.
But Liverpool fans are terrified that the final may be the last time they see Mo Salah in the famous red shirt of their team.
Salah is out of contract at the Anfield club and, while they search for another treble, the Egyptian star has publicly said he wants to stay with Liverpool. But he is yet to put pen to paper and rumours are circulating that Pool’s Champions League final opponents, Real Madrid, may be about to make a sensational move.
It could just be mischief-making ahead of the European showcase final, but European football expert Julien Laurens has recently said that Real Madrid are primed to make a statement by signing Mo Salah.
Los Blancos have missed out on two of their major targets already and Laurens, the French football journalist thinks that Salah would be the ideal player to operate in a front three, alongside Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.
The Madrid giants lost out in their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland as the Norwegian scoring sensation opted to join Manchester City, while Kylian Mbappe, who seemed set to move to the Santiago Bernabeu, has recently agreed to sign a new deal with Paris Saint-Germain. The loss of Mbappe is a huge blow to Los Blancos and head coach Carlo Ancelotti will want to move quickly to get a big signing in.
With Barcelona recovering under Xavi, Los Blancos are desperate to keep their noses in front of their El Clasico rivals and the signing of a player of Salah’s quality would go a long way towards that target. If this story does gather pace then it could easily turn out to be the biggest Premier League 2022 newsof the summer break.
And it doesn’t come at a good time for the Merseysiders.
Liverpool’s quadruple dreams disappeared last Sunday in six mad minutes at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City remarkably turned a two-goal deficit into a 3-2 win. The Premier League 2022 betting odds had backed the Sky Blues throughout the campaign but, on 75 minutes, Liverpool were in the box seat before City launched one of their famous dramatic finishes.
But despite the disappointment, as well as being the league’s joint-top scorer, Salah was named the Footballer of the Year by the English Football Writers’ Association, ahead of City’s Kevin de Bruyne, for the second time after winning the award in 2018.
Anfield fans adore their Mo
If he were to leave Anfield, the Liverpool faithful would be heartbroken as they have accepted Salah as one of their own. With their ‘Mo Salah Egyptian King’ song the Anfield faithful praise his running, his thunderbolt shooting and his aura of majesty. He is loved by Liverpool fans more than anyone since the days of King Kenny Dalglish in the 1970s and 80s and he has had a wider influence in the region.
Since Salah’s arrival in 2017, incidents of Islamophobia plummeted in Liverpool, according to a study by researchers at Stanford University in their Immigration Policy Lab. The research discovered a 19 per cent reduction in hate crimes against Muslims on Merseyside, leading academics to conclude that his prominent position as a fans’ idol has led to an increased familiarity and empathy with Islam in the region.
And the reason for the fans’ adoration is clear. While he plays alongside talents including Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota, Salah has delivered more consistently than anyone and has genius in his boots. His strike in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City this season was one of the goals of the century as he slalomed past the best defence in the league before finishing beautifully in the far corner.
The Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool is the most anticipated clash of the year and here at SBOTOP we’ll be previewing and reporting on what should be a fantastic clash. Salah has already said that the Reds are on a revenge mission after losing the 2018 final to Los Blancos 3-1. He was on the end of a brutal challenge from Sergio Ramos which ended his match and Salah said, at the Football Writers Dinner: “Yeah, yeah, we lost in the 2018 final. It was a sad day for all of us. It’s revenge time.”
It may be Liverpool’s chance to even things up in Paris, but Real Madrid might have the last laugh if they can lure Salah to the Santiago Benabeu.
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