Jamie Carragher believes Mohamed Salah's comments in the Spanish press were a pointed message to the Liverpool board to offer him a new deal.
Salah triggered speculation over his future by opening the door to a future move to Real Madrid or Barcelona in an interview with prominent publication AS.
The Liverpool forward said: "I think Madrid and Barcelona are top clubs.
"We never know what is going to happen in the future, but right now I'm focused on winning the Premier League and the Champions League again with my club."
When asked how much longer he sees himself playing at Anfield, the Egyptian added: "That's a tough one, but right now I can say that everything is in the club's hands.
"Of course I want to break records here and, I repeat, every record in the club, but everything's in the hands of the club."
Salah's former Egypt teammate Mohamed Aboutrika added further fuel to the fire by saying that Salah was "unhappy" on Merseyside.
He told beIN Sports: "I called Salah about his situation at Liverpool and he is upset, but that would never affect his performance on the field.
"I know that Salah is not happy in Liverpool, he told me the reasons why he is not happy but they are secrets and I cannot talk about it in public.
"One of the reasons that made Salah angry was that he was not the captain against Midtjylland."
But Carragher, writing in his column in the Daily Telegraph, believes Salah's comments were simply to sting the Liverpool board into action.
The Liverpool legend wrote: "The timing of the player initiating transfer stories is also strange. My view is it was a message to Liverpool’s owners to offer him a lucrative new deal.
"Seeing their players being courted by the La Liga clubs would have concerned Liverpool five years ago. Not now.
"I am not convinced Madrid and Barca can afford Salah. Investing well in excess of £125 million on a player who will turn 29 this summer is not good business."
