Mohamed Salah has been cautioned that his current contract "rocked the boat" at Liverpool amid ongoing rumours about his future. Salah extended his contract in 2022, but is now in the final year of his deal and has stated that "nobody in the club" has discussed a new one with him.
The 32-year-old reportedly earns £350,000 a week, making him the highest-paid player in Liverpool's history. Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney suggested on talkSPORT that Salah's hefty salary has caused discontent at the club, with several teammates seeking similar pay rises.
"There was talk in football that [Salah's] extension rocked the boat a little bit, because it was so far above everybody else that it kind of made Liverpool go hold on everybody else came to the forefront like 'where's my money?" Deeney said. Salah isn't the only key player entering the final year of his contract, with captain Virgil van Dijk and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold also in the same situation.
Deeney believes that Alexander-Arnold would be the "easier one to replace" out of the three. "Van Dijk is not getting any younger, but I think, and this is going to sound really harsh, but in order of priority I would have gone, Salah first, Van Dijk second then Trent," he explained.
"What I mean by that is you are going to need at least two players to recreate what Salah gives you, goals and assists-wise.
"Centre-back every centre-back they have got apart from Van Dijk is a number two. It's very difficult to go out and find, as Man United are finding, to find that number one centre-back. I think of the three, he (Alexander-Arnold) is the easier one to replace."
Conversely, Liverpool manager Arne Slot remains confident about keeping his star trio at the club. "If we bring the best out of them and they perform really well then it's up to them if they want to sign and us if we give them a new contract," said Slot while speaking to Sky Sports last month.
"The main thing for all of them, if you're out of contract or not, is to get the best performance as possible and there is where I should and will help them with my staff, to bring out the best of them.
"Until now it's been nothing but positive. Mo came back really strong in terms of physique, Virgil as well, Trent did the same and they brought in good performances against Ipswich which was only the first game."
