Your Liverpool morning headlines for Wednesday, April 13.
Liverpool owners FSG face second contract battle on top of Mohamed Salah
While the noises over Mohamed Salah potentially extending his stay at Liverpool have been more encouraging in recent weeks. it is a situation that remains unresolved.
The tone appears to have softened and comments from the likes of the Egyptian sports minister Ashraf Sobhi , who claimed Salah had told him he intended to stay at Liverpool, as well as Reds boss Jurgen Klopp's continued calmness over the situation have helped ease some worried minds after Salah's agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, had attempted to whip up something of a frenzy with his cryptic emojis in the aftermath of Klopp's claims that the club had done what it could and that the ball was now in the court of the 29-year old Salah.
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp has right to be 'angry' but Liverpool sympathy must wait
With the market options more limited through Barcelona's financial issues, Real Madrid's continued pursuit of Kylian Mbappe, a near civil war going on at Paris Saint-Germain and the likelihood that Salah wouldn't move to another Premier League team for financial or competitive reasons, there will be an air of confidence that a deal with Salah can be reached.
But with the Reds focusing on a huge run-in where they remain in contention for the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup it is hard to imagine that it is an issue that gets resolved before the curtain is brought down on this current campaign.
Dave Powell has the full story
John Henry may have sacked 'wrong person' at Liverpool as £120m transfer plan seen in new light
Liverpool are one of the best clubs in the transfer business these days, with the Reds getting it right time and time again when it comes to both strengthening Jurgen Klopp’s squad, bringing in the right players at the right price, and moving players along for maximum profit.
But that hasn’t been the case for the majority of the Premier League era, with a succession of Liverpool managers having mixed success in the market and being responsible for a number of big-money flops. Eventually learning from such mistakes and adapting with modern times under FSG , a new structure was implemented that would help transform the Reds into one of the best sides around.
Sporting Director Michael Edwards has played a key role in this gradual change at Anfield. And even though he is leaving the club at the end of the season, successor Julian Ward is already well-placed to carry on where his predecessor will have left off, with £49m January signing Luis Diaz his first - and the club’s latest - example of the perfect way to conduct business.
FSG’s way of doing things wasn’t an overnight success, however. Former manager Brendan Rodgers and the Liverpool transfer committee didn’t always see eye to eye, while the Reds’ transfer record under Kenny Dalglish was particularly hit and miss, including Andy Carroll (£35m from Newcastle United) and Stewart Downing (£20m from Aston Villa).
