Talks of Liverpool extending Mohamed Salah’s contract are apparently going in a positive direction. The Egyptian King’s current deal expires in the summer of 2023, and he is earning £200,000-per-week, joint-second highest in the squad with Thiago Alcantara, with Virgil van Dijk being the highest paid upon his contract renewal. It is kind of expected that the forward would be seeking a higher contractual price in any extension offer on the table.
While a flurry of contract extensions to key players has been a feature of this summer for the club, the owners are keen not to rip up the stringent wage structure to meet the demands of one player. The May 2020 accounts show that Liverpool’s wage bill had shot up to £325 million from £310 million, second only to Manchester City in the league (who are at £351 million). With a handful of contract extensions made to keep Fabinho, van Dijk, Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold at the club (and now Andy Robertson), that figure will go up when the new account report comes up (wage bill numbers from article in the Athletic).
On the other hand, the Reds have done well in terms of offloading players who were at the fringes of the team. To add to that, the club hasn’t done much incoming business this summer, having only signed Ibrahima Konate so far. So cash would be available.
Keeping all that in mind, and that the fans will be back in the stadium this season, with attendant hike in matchday revenue compared to last season, it shouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility from the club’s finances viewpoint that pushing the envelope just a wee bit to meet the demands of Salah and his agent doesn’t cause a crisis.
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