Arne Slot facing £100m Mo Salah dilemma as he starts Liverpool job after taking over from Jurgen Klopp
ARNE SLOT will walk into Liverpool’s £100million Mo Salah dilemma when his job officially starts today.
Kop star Salah committed his Anfield future last month when he vowed to “fight like hell” for trophies next season in a boost to Dutchman Slot, who replaces Jurgen Klopp.
AlamyMo Salah is attracting interest from Saudi clubs[/caption]
GettyArne Slot will either keep Liverpool’s star man or see his budget boosted[/caption]
But the Egyptian only has a year left on his contract, so now Slot and owners Fenway Sports Group must decide whether to cash in on their talisman or risk losing him for nothing in 12 months.
Salah, the club’s top scorer for the past seven seasons, has had long-term interest from the Saudi Pro League, especially Al-Ittihad.
With Klopp departing, Salah, 31, knows he could turn his £19.5m-a-year salary into a staggering £375m, three-year commitment to the Middle East.
Liverpool CEO Michael Edwards is a big admirer of Salah, who was signed by Klopp for just £34.3m from Roma in 2017, but there are no signs of a contract extension.
If the Saudis return with their interest — originally tabled on Deadline Day last September and totalling £475m, including wages and transfer fee — then all Salah would have to do to secure a mega-money move to the desert is nod his newly-shaven head in their direction.
They would then get back a large chunk of that outlay with the explosion of TV rights on the back of Salah’s presence.
He would join other world stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and probably Casemiro next season in pulling in the punters.
Not that a country gushing with petrodollars needs it, even though Salah is the most famous Muslim footballer on Earth with close to 100m social media followers.
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The real question is how much do FSG need £100m plus a huge reduction in salary costs? And how much does Slot need him?
Of course any new manager would want to keep a player with such an amazing strike rate over 349 games as Salah, whose tally of 155 league goals is a Liverpool Prem-era record.
Yet the former Feyenoord boss is committed to creating his own version of the side that Klopp left behind and waiting for Salah to say his goodbyes would prove a major distraction.
Slot also has a brilliant fledgling replacement in Ben Doak, who is in Scotland’s initial Euros squad.
Doak, 18, made five senior appearances before a knee injury ended his season in December. He not only has jet-heeled pace but also superb footballing intelligence.
Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise, 22, would also be an ideal alternative and would fancy Champions League football.
There will be other matters on Slot’s mind, such as what to do with the hit and miss enigma that is Darwin Nunez.
There is talk the Uruguyan, 24, may be ushered out — with SunSport exclusively revealing that Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, 28, is a possible £60m successor.
Slot’s Feyenoord No 1, Justin Bijlow, 26, is also on his agenda with Alisson, 31, another Saudi target while Caoimhin Kelleher, 25, is adamant that he wants first-team football.
But the biggest decision is over Salah, especially after Saudi Pro League director Michael Emenalo made it clear the door remains open.
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