Liverpool should think about ‘selling’ Mohamed Salah in the summer and reinvest the money in their planned overhaul, according to the Reds’ former striker John Aldridge. Six days after embarrassing their fierce rivals Manchester United 7-0, Liverpool suffered a lifeless 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Bournemouth, which brought them crashing back to earth.
Throughout the game, Jurgen Klopp’s side failed to generate clear chances after falling back to the Cherries in the 28th minute. More misery piled upon them after Mohamed Salah missed a penalty just after the hour mark. The Egyptian’s horrendous miss and a dismal performance throughout the game best captured Liverpool’s ailing season.
Can wait until the end of the season – Albridge on Liverpool making a decision to sell Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah largely went missing throughout the entire game and missed the penalty after Bournemouth left-back Adam Smith was called for a handball. The winger then ended the game with a dull 5.6 WhoScored rating as a result of his one shot on target, one successful dribble, one duel won, zero chances created and a missed penalty.
While Mohamed Salah has made and recorded a brilliant 22 goals and 11 assists in 38 appearances this season, the defeat at at Bournemouth dealt Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the top four and subsequently making the Champions League for the next season a huge setback. As Klopp has already admitted that a s quad overhaul is coming in the summer, Albridge feels Mohamed Salah’s sale could well kickstart it. The former striker told the Sunday World:
“In the last few seasons, Klopp’s team had too much pace, power and desire for these relegation battlers to handle. Yet all that has changed – and I look at Mohamed Salah’s body language, and something isn’t right. After his goals against United last Sunday, I was looking to Salah to lead the team for the rest of the season and starring banging in two or three goals a week consistently.
“We all know how good Salah has been and still is, but he was dreadful yesterday and won’t need me to tell him that. Take his missed penalty out of the equation and he turned in a display that lacked passion – and I hate to write negative things about a player who is an all-time Liverpool great.
“There may be a debate over whether selling Salah this summer and using that money to reinvest in the team may be an option, but that idea can wait until the end of the season. Between now and then, Salah has to lead Liverpool as the senior striker – and he simply didn’t do that at Bournemouth.”
Mohamed Salah signed a new deal last summer to extend his stay at Anfield until 2025, which also made him the club’s highest earner. In 292 games for Liverpool, Salah has scored 178 goals and supplied 74 assists. While Liverpool are the favourites to sign their number-1 target Jude Bellingham in the summer, and if they raise more money by selling their Egyptian king, other star signing may follow as well.