Mo Salah has no option but to stay at Liverpool or take a 'sideways' move to Manchester City as his contract talks drag on.
Salah is out of contract at Liverpool next summer, but is yet to sign a new contract and both parties appear apart in their requirements for a deal to be agreed. If Salah was to leave, he would surely be in demand but would also command an enormous transfer fee if Liverpool decided to sell him as opposed to let him leave for free in 2023.
According to Michael Owen, though, Salah's options would be limited if he looked for a new club as only City are able to match Liverpool for ambition and quality. He told BBC Sport : "I'd be very surprised if Mo Salah didn't sign with Liverpool. What are the options at the moment?"
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"You are only going either sideways to Manchester City or down anywhere else because there is no one else as good as these two teams in the world at the moment. Let's give everyone time because these things don't happen overnight.
"You are talking about one of the biggest clubs in the world and one of the biggest players in the world and that player is about to sign the biggest contract of his life. I think it's entirely normal that negotiations can drag on a little bit.
"Liverpool have got to run it as a business. They can't, of course, give any player what they want because if you do then there are lots of other players in the squad that could be knocking on Jurgen Klopp's door saying, 'well, hang on a minute, if he's on this then I should be on that’.
"I'm sure Liverpool are very sensible, I'm sure Mo Salah and his representatives are all very sensible and understand that. It's just a case of them finding the middle ground and, hopefully, everybody will find that quite soon.
"Mo Salah has got to be thinking about the chances of success in the future - if he's thinking along those lines then Liverpool ticks that box. It's just a question of whether they tick the box financially as well."
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