LIVERPOOL are in very real danger of losing Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian superstar, 29, has been enjoying arguably the best season of his career at Anfield this season.
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However, their has been a dark cloud hovering over the Premier League title-chasing giants: Salah’s contract stand-off.
Liverpool want Salah to stay. Salah wants to stay at Liverpool. It should be so simple.
But boss Jurgen Klopp recently admitted it’s ‘not something where you meet for a cup of tea in the afternoon and find an agreement’.
Salah is out of contract at the end of NEXT season – the 2022-23 campaign.
But with just 18 months to run on his deal, the flying winger could be forgiven for assessing his options.
Barcelona were recently linked with a move, but Salah shot them down, despite being flattered by their interest.
The ex-Chelsea man claimed: “If the decision is up to me, I want to stay in Liverpool.
“I read what was said about Xavi’s interest to sign me.
“This is something that makes me happy that a team like Barcelona is interested in me.
“But I’m happy in Liverpool and we will see what happens in the future.
“At the moment, I prefer to stay in the Premier League as it’s the strongest league in the world.”
But, should Salah and Liverpool fail to come to an agreement, the club are likely to cash in this summer rather than risk losing their star man for nothing.
We take a look at five clubs who could go in for Salah, should that happen…
MAN UTD
UNITED have long been chasing some star quality on the wing.
Natural centre-forwards Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are all deployed out wide.
Jadon Sancho was signed in a £73million deal in the summer, while youngsters such as Amad Diallo are options.
But to sign Salah would be a major coup for United – however unlikely it would be for him to leave Liverpool for their fiercest rivals.
With Salah on the right wing and Sancho on the left, the Red Devils could finally prove to be a force once more.
CHELSEA
ALONG with Kevin de Bruyne, Salah falls under the ‘ones that got away’ category for Chelsea.
The Egyptian barely played for the Blues before being shipped off to Italy, playing just 13 Premier League games between 2013 and 2015.
After shining at Roma, Salah signed for Liverpool in a scarcely-believable £34.3m deal in 2017 and has been one of the world’s best players since.
Chelsea are struggling with their many wide options, too.
Despite boasting the likes of Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi, the Blues front-line has never really clicked, with a huge portion of their goals coming from defenders.
Thomas Tuchel now even prefers to play a back-three with wing-backs, playing the likes of Mason Mount and Kai Havertz in behind the striker, rather than natural wingers.
That would almost-certainly change if they had Salah back on the books.
While Chelsea will regret selling the Liverpool star, you wonder if Salah looks back with any feeling of unfinished business.
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MAN CITY
ONE team who definitely do like to play with attacking width is Man City.
Pep Guardiola has no shortage of options with Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez and Ferran Torres on the books.
But Torres and Sterling are both being tipped with moves away – with Barcelona keen on both.
Should Salah leave Liverpool, there are very few teams who come close to being able to compete with the Reds and City are certainly one of them.
Under Guardiola, Salah would be a sure-fire starter on the right-wing – and he would certainly be paid handsomely at the ultra-wealthy club.
NEWCASTLE
A LEFT-FIELD option, absolutely – but absolutely possible.
Newcastle have been on the prowl for a marquee signing ever since their £305m takeover.
Now the wealthiest club on the planet, they could pay Salah astronomically well to convince him to join.
An ambitious club with deep pockets and cash to burn, Salah would immediately be the Toon’s star man.
However, Newcastle may need to show signs of life in the league and be able to assure more squad-strengthening before convincing the Kop idol to head to St James’ Park.
BAYERN MUNICH
SHOULD no Premier League option crop up, Bayern Munich seem like the most-likely European target.
The German giants are immediate favourites to win every domestic trophy each year and are always among the front-runners for the Champions League.
Very few clubs in the world can promise consistent success these days – even Juventus lost their near-decade-long Serie A win streak to Inter Milan last term.
Bayern, too, are still yet to fully replace Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, despite the likes of Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry performing admirably.
A superstar, household name like Salah could be the perfect man for Bayern.
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