Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes Liverpool extending Mohamed Salah’s contract is ‘more important’ than Man City signing Erling Haaland this summer.
Liverpool fans rejoiced on Friday afternoon when news came out of nowhere about Salah’s new deal. The Egyptian has scored 156 goals in 254 appearances since his £36.5m move from Roma in 2017 and put pen to paper on a new three-year contract, which will extend his stay at Anfield until at least 2025.
The ECHO understands that the Egyptian forward will earn more than £350,000 a week, making the 30-year-old the highest paid player in the club’s history. He only had a year left to run on his previous deal and there were doubts about whether he would remain at Liverpool. The ECHO also understands that Salah will earn less than £400k a week , with his new deal heavily incentivised so he could earn more based on player performance.
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Having narrowly missed out on the title by one point last year to Pep Guardiola’s side, the Reds’ rivals have already strengthened this summer with the acquisitions of Kalvin Phillips, Julian Alvarez [who officially signed in January but will join up for the first time with City this summer] and Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian was courted by a whole host of elite clubs across Europe and the £51m fee City signed him for, which was his release clause at former club Borussia Dortmund, has been widely hailed as the best deal of the summer.
However, Murphy, who made 249 appearances for Liverpool 1997 to 2004, believes the extension for Salah is in fact the best business of the summer, and even bigger than Haaland’s move to the Etihad.
“The Salah re-signing is more important [than Haaland],” Murphy told talkSPORT.
“City won the league without Haaland, so you could argue they didn’t need him, although he does make them better.”
Murphy also argued that with the loss of Sadio Mane in a £35m move to Bayern Munich last month, Liverpool’s ability to retain Salah has garnered even more importance.
And, despite Salah becoming the highest paid player in Reds history, along with the fact that eyebrows were raised at handing out a long-term deal to a 30-year-old, Murphy believes that the financial factors of the deal do make sense.
He said: “If Liverpool were to lose Mane and Salah in the same summer, I think it would be difficult for them to fill both those voids. I know they’ve brought in Nunez and they’ve got Luis Diaz, but Salah’s guaranteed goals.
“If you look at it from a financial point of view, if it is 400 [thousand pounds per week], I’m not sure it’s probably that much, but even if it is, that’s £20m-a-year. Times three, £60m. If you were to go out and try to replace him, you’d have to spend more than that and the wages, so it’s a good business deal as well as a good football move.”
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