Mohamed Salah is into the final two years of his contract at Liverpool with the club keen to resolve his future.
The Egyptian has been locked in negotiations over a new deal at Anfield for some months, with manager Jurgen Klopp admitting in mid-September there had been little progress.
Salah, 29, is now at the stage in his contract where the balance of power is generally seen as shifting away from the club and towards the player.
As exclusively reported by Mirror Sport last month, Salah is targeting a new contract which could see him net £500k per week at Anfield - enough to make him the highest paid player at the club with Virgil van Dijk currently on top with £220k per week.
Former Reds defender Jamie Carragher has now urged the club to treat Salah’s situation with “urgency” and to resolve the issue of tying down the star’s future.
Writing in his Telegraph column, the pundit pointed out that Klopp recently claimed he was ‘not involved’ in the talks to renew Salah’s deal, but Carragher labelled this approach as “odd”.
The former defender added: “If there is a sound reason for not resolving the Salah contract situation with the same urgency, it is yet to be satisfactorily explained.”
Carragher went on to warn against a potential “serious mistake” on the club’s behalf if they allowed the situation to play out, leaving him open to leaving as a free agent in the summer of 2023.
He added: “There is a presumption that the impasse in talks for a new deal will be resolved, the club and his representative compromising to ensure the Egyptian commits until he is 33 years old. There is no sign that is imminent. Worryingly, it is possible Salah will leave on a Bosman free transfer.
“It would be a serious mistake to let the situation drag on that far.”
Whilst Salah is now approaching his 30s, Carragher believes this should not carry the same level as concern as it may have done with previous generations of players.
Carragher continued: “My counter-argument is that exceptional players warrant being treated as an exception.
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“Everything about Salah suggests that unless he suffers serious injury he is in such perfect physical shape and such a professional on and off the pitch, he will still be producing until he is 33, and probably for a couple of years beyond that. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are an inspiration to their peers, showing how the early 30s are no barrier to enduring excellence.”
Salah has been a revelation for Liverpool since moving to Merseyside from Roma in a £34million deal in the summer of 2017 and his goal in last week’s 3-3 draw at Brentford ensured he became the fastest Reds player to reach 100 goals in the Premier League.
The Egyptian went on to net twice in the 5-1 demolition of Porto in the Champions League, making it eight goals in as many appearances this season.
In total, Salah has bagged 133 goals and provided 49 assists in 211 games for the club.
