Roy Keane has warned Liverpool they have to get Mohamed Salah's contract "done and dusted" or risk losing one of the world's "greatest players".
The Egyptian forward is into the final 18 months of his Liverpool contract with talks continuing to drag on with no real end in sight.
Liverpool have a strict wage structure and seem to adhere to a similarly strict policy on offering new deals to players over 30 - a policy which ultimately saw them lose Georginio Wijnaldum to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
But Keane feels any concerns about Salah's longevity in the sport are not an issue as he urged the Reds to sort the contract before it's too late.
"He’s 29 but the modern player, they’re machines I don’t think it’s no issue. From Liverpool’s point of view it’s business they’ve got to try and negotiate," the pundit told ITV.
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"You’ve got to get him signed on, he’s one of the greatest players in the world, you’ve got to get it done. If it goes into next season you really start to worry but try and get it done and dusted.
"They might not have a choice, it’s up to the player, the player’s in charge he said he’s happy and he’s obviously going to try and negotiate a bit of steel but he’s going to to get a lot of money anyway.
"It might be does he want a new experience. But he’s said a number of times he’s happy here he’s loved here but Liverpool have got to try and get him signed you can’t just let players like that go out of the door, particularly on a free."
Salah has persistently insisted the ball is in Liverpool's court and he wants to sign a new deal but it appears the club's hierarchy are not bowing to his demands.
The 29-year-old claimed he was not asking for "crazy money" in an interview last month, but his salary demands are thought to reflect his status as one of the top stars in world football.
That would see him become Liverpool's top earner ahead of teammate Virgil van Dijk, who is reported to be on around £220,000-per-week.
Salah's demands are thought to be closer to the £400,000-per-week mark - the same salary that Kevin De Bruyne earns at Manchester City.
Liverpool's decision to fork out £50million to sign Luis Diaz in January has raised the prospect of one of their regular front three moving on, possibly as early as this summer, with the contracts of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino also into their final 18 months.
But speaking last month Jurgen Klopp insisted there was "no problem" in the negotiations involving Salah, despite the talks taking a considerably longer amount of time than that of the likes of Alisson and Fabinho, who recently penned new deals.
"If two big companies try to come together out there usually in normal life, in business, that's not done overnight," Klopp said.
"A big contract, it's not like buying a smartphone (that) you just sign one thing and it's done.
"There are a lot of things to consider – some on the club's side, some from the player's side and a lot from the agent's side. That's the thing, nothing else."
