Mohamed Salah has confirmed he will be staying at Liverpool next season - but Sadio Mane has left the door open for a potential exit this summer.
The Reds have one game remaining of a mammoth season which has already seen them lift the League Cup and FA Cup, with a Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris their final curtain call. Liverpool have the chance to become seven-time champions of Europe but will need to bounce back from their agonising Premier League title near miss.
And their preparations for the showpiece at the Stade de France have been boosted by Salah going out of his way to confirm his intention to remain at Anfield next season in a press conference on Wednesday.
Salah - along with strike partners Mane and Firmino - is out of contract next summer, with speculation already mounting over his long-term future. Negotiations between Kop bosses and the Egyptian’s representatives have been ongoing for some time but remain at an impasse.
While Saturday night’s opponents, Madrid, have been touted as a potential suitor for Salah, in the build-up to the clash he moved to quash any suggestion he will leave in the next few months. “I am staying next season for sure, that is clear,” he explained.
“In my mind I don’t focus on the contract at the moment. I said two months ago it’s about the team now, an important week for us, winning the trophy is the only important thing, and I want to see Hendo [captain Jordan Henderson] having the trophy in his hands.”
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Salah could yet depart as a free agent in the summer of 2023, although it seems highly unlikely that Liverpool chiefs would allow themselves to be backed into such a corner, based on their recent dealings both internally and externally.
Luis Diaz was recruited in January and has quickly proven himself to be a worthy deputy to either Salah or Mane, with Diogo Jota finding his chances increasingly limited in the crunch weeks of the season. Diaz’s arrival had initially appeared to put pressure on Mane’s place in the team - only for the Senegal international to find a brilliant run of form when his side needed it most.
After a victorious campaign in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, Mane has taken the mantle from Salah and stepped up for his colleague, who has endured one of the more barren stretches of his second stint in English football. However, his future also remains uncertain amid suggestions the likes of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain could make a play for him.
But unlike Salah, Mane refused to confirm - or deny - that he will remain at Anfield next season and instead told supporters they will get his final answer in the days following the clash with Madrid in the French capital.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: “For sure it will be special to win it and make it seven…and this question (regarding his future) I will answer after the Champions League…I’m going to answer after the Champions League.”
