Mohamed Salah has confessed he felt he had just a “10 percent” chance of staying with Liverpool during the early months of the season.
The Egyptian had Liverpool fans fretting all season after entering the final 12 months of his previous contract, with several public statements admitting his concern about his future. He repeatedly referred to this season as his “last” and confessed he felt ”more out than in,“ leaving many believing he could depart at the end of the campaign.
Thankfully for Reds fans, the narrative began to change as the calendar turned over to 2025 and Salah was soon followed by Virgil van Dijk in putting pen to paper, but the Premier League’s top scorer admitted he began this season almost certain that he would be on his way this summer.
“Based on the club‘s history, 10 percent [chance of staying],” he told Sky Sports. “Because we know the philosophy of the club, I‘m not attacking them.
“I know how they deal with players over 30 in the past and I know how the situation will be so I never expect the club is going to be, ‘Okay, you have two years there.‘ We reach a point in the money [negotiations], all of us are happy so I didn‘t expect I was going to stay.
“I think it took six months for the negotiation to go really quick and I think from January, I go, ‘Okay, now things are getting better and better.‘ It took a while. I think the club tested me to see if I can provide or not! I didn‘t want more than that, just the two years.”
After months of tension, negotiations ultimately ramped up quickly for both Salah and Van Dijk. Asked which deal he felt was more important for Liverpool, he insisted both will prove to be worth the effort.
“I think both,“ he said. “You need clean sheets and goals, without goals and clean sheets you won‘t win trophies.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mohamed Salah Makes Shock Admission About Liverpool Contract Negotiations.
