Mohamed Salah has allayed concerns the Champions League final could be his last game for Liverpool by insisting he will not leave this summer.
Liverpool’s leading goalscorer is out of contract in 2023 and talks over an extension that would make him the highest-paid player in the club’s history have dragged on for months without resolution. The Egypt international has been linked with moves to Paris Saint-Germain or Saturday’s opponents Real Madrid should Liverpool decide to cash in this summer on a player who could leave on a free in 12 months.
The 29-year-old, however, has said he is going nowhere before that deal expires, although he refused to elaborate on whether an extension was in sight.
Speaking at Liverpool’s Champions League final media day, Salah said: “In my mind, I don’t focus on the contract at all at the moment. I don’t want to be selfish. I said two months ago, it’s all about the team now. It’s a really important week for us, so I am just focused on the team.
“I want to win the Champions League again. I want to see Hendo [Jordan Henderson] with the trophy again and hopefully he will give it to me after. I am just focused on the team and don’t want to talk about my contract but I am staying next season for sure.”
Sadio Mané is another Liverpool striker approaching the final 12 months of his contract and is on Bayern Munich’s list of potential replacements should Robert Lewandowski leave this summer as expected. Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, wants to keep Mané and Salah but the Senegal international wants to wait until after Saturday’s final in Paris before announcing his decision.
“Whether I stay or not, I will say it after the Champions League,” Mané said.
Jürgen Klopp remains relaxed over the contract negotiations and believes the outcome of the Champions League final will have no bearing on players’ decisions. The Liverpool manager said: “No, not at all. We are in talks with all the players but now is not the moment to talk about them. There is just not the time. We play every three days. The players have this idea, we have this idea and sometimes they match. But we know each other for a long time.”
Liverpool could have a full squad on Saturday despite Thiago Alcântara suffering an achilles problem in the Premier League finale against Wolves. The midfielder did not take part in an open training session but Klopp said Thiago remained in contention.
“A good chance,” he said of Thiago’s prospects. “He will be training this afternoon, he did some stuff this morning. It was not planned he will be doing this session with the players and in the moment it looks like he can be part of training tomorrow. That would be pretty helpful, obviously. It’s surprisingly good news.
“After the game I was not positive but we got news that night already that it doesn’t look that bad. We will see. We just have to make sure we do the right thing in the right moment and we will try.”
Fabinho has resumed training after missing the past three matches with a hamstring injury. “I’m ready,” he said when asked about the final. Virgil van Dijk, who has not played since the FA Cup final, and Joe Gomez, who injured an ankle in the penultimate game of the league season at Southampton, are also back in full training.
