For Liverpool, the large numbers surrounding Mohamed Salah are not just confined to his potential transfer fee. A few days after they rejected a £150m bid from Al-Ittihad, Salah scored in a 150th different Liverpool game. Amid talk of a £200m offer, the Egyptian delivered the 188th goal of a six-year stay on Merseyside that, if the Saudi Pro League club had their way, would have been curtailed last week. With the Saudi transfer window still open, it may yet end this week, but Liverpool certainly hope not.
Salah scarcely performed like a man distracted by the prospect of a move that could make him the third most expensive player ever or the best-paid on the planet. Rather, it was a typical display: he now has seven goals in his last seven starts against Aston Villa and has either scored or assisted in each of Liverpool’s last 10 league games. Were Darwin Nunez’s finishing more accurate, he would have done both here. Instead, he added to what has been a terrific start to the season for Liverpool. A focus on the transfer market can generate a sense of crisis, with the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, the failed bids for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia and the prospect of Salah being poached. Yet Liverpool have 10 points from four games, three of them against sides widely expected to finish in the top eight. They were rampant and dominant as Villa were swatted aside.
