The English newspaper "The Sun" revealed the reason that compelled Liverpool to meet the financial demands of their Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, following a lengthy refusal to renew his contract with the "Reds." The English club announced last Friday the extension of Salah's contract, allowing him to remain with Liverpool until June 30, 2025.
The newspaper stated that English club Chelsea played a significant role in forcing Liverpool to accept Salah's requests for renewal. Salah was prepared to return to Chelsea, and the new owner of the "Blues," Todd Boehly, was preparing a three-season contract for Salah. Through his agent, Ramy Abbas, Salah informed Fenway Sports Group that he would consider a return to Stamford Bridge, where he played from 2014 to 2016.
The group that manages Liverpool was determined not to disrupt the club's existing wage structure, where Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk was the highest earner with a weekly salary of £225,000. Liverpool was willing to let Salah leave during the current summer transfer window for £60 million rather than lose him for free in the summer of 2023.
However, as soon as Liverpool's management learned of Chelsea's interest in acquiring Salah, they quickly moved to extend his contract until the summer of 2025. Under the terms of the new contract, which was signed on the Greek island of Mykonos, Egyptian national team captain Salah became the highest-paid player in the Premier League, earning £400,000 per week, surpassing Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Belgian Kevin De Bruyne.
Liverpool's management believes that selling Sadio Mané to Bayern Munich and allowing Salah to move to a local rival would have been a severe blow to the team's ambitions for competing for titles, in addition to significantly diminishing their reputation in English competitions. Salah played 19 matches for Chelsea in all competitions in 2014 and won the English Football League Cup with them in 2015.
