3 days ago
41
Jamie Redknapp has claimed that Mohamed Salah could leave Liverpool in January and predicted his situation won’t “end well”.
The Egyptian was named on the bench for the midweek game against Sunderland, the second game in a row Arne Slot has chosen to omit Salah from the line-up.
The Liverpool head coach claimed the star winger’s reaction to that disappointment has been exemplary, but Redknapp feels the warning signs are clear to see. The former midfielder predicted Salah will not be happy if he finds himself as backup, and claimed a Liverpool exit could be imminent.
“He’s a Premier League great, a Liverpool great. That’s why I don’t think this is going to end well,” the 52-year-old said on Sky Sports.
“They’re in a difficult situation now. When you have someone who is so good and so important to the team in and around the dressing room… how they react, how they act in training.
“He will not want to be bench. He signed this contract — this isn’t him seeing his career out. He wants to play week in, week out.
“It’s going to be very difficult. I will be amazed if he sees out the last year and a half of his contract.
“I don’t think this helps the situation one bit. Nothing would surprise me in football,” Redknapp continued, when pushed on iif he thinks Salah’s time at Liverpool is drawing to a close.
“If it’s January, if it’s maybe in the summer, I think if the right club were to come around… I think a lot will be decided by [Salah]. I think he has earned the right and if he says ‘If I’m not going to be a starter for you, I’m not one of those players who wants to hang around — I will go wherever it takes’.
“I think he will still want to stay in Europe. The first thing we’ll say is he will go to Saudi because he’s a legend in that part of the world, or he’ll go to the US, but this for me is at breaking point.
“I think the relationship, he’ll feel let down and maybe even blamed for what’s going on, but while the team is winning without him, and you look at the stats, they’re pretty good when he doesn’t play.
“He’s not indispensable. Time waits for no-one and it will be difficult for everyone.
“They are reshaping and this might be not be their year, but when I look at the age of that group, they have a lot of young players.
“They need to start building the team around the likes of Florian Wirtz and [Alexander] Isak. As good as he’s been, everything comes.”
English (US) ·