Liverpool will live to regret handing Mohamed Salah a bumper contract extension with the winger set to leave this summer.
eSPORTY co-host Jason Cundy insists the Reds should have instead given it to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who departed Anfield at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
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Alexander-Arnold, who moved to Real Madrid, was initially set to walk away from Liverpool for nothing when his contract expired.
However, the Spanish giants negotiated a £10million fee with Liverpool to let Alexander-Arnold move ahead of time so he could aid them at the 2025 Club World Cup.
Show me the money
Liverpool were at risk of also losing Salah for nothing at the end of last season along with talismanic defender Virgil van Dijk, but both signed contract extensions last April.
eSPORTY understands Salah’s new deal included wages of £400,000-a-week.
Yet Salah will only reap the rewards of the deal for one season as he confirmed he will leave Anfield at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
It means Liverpool will not bank any transfer fee for the Egyptian superstar, although the eight trophies he helped the Reds win, including two Premier League titles and the Champions League, will undoubtedly cushion the blow.
Nevertheless, Cundy could still not wrap his head around Liverpool’s thinking behind who they chose to keep last season, labelling the situation an ‘absolute mess’.
Cundy: Liverpool ‘ballsed up’
“All the Liverpool fans phoning up moaning about Trent, about what happened, they turned down £20m from Real Madrid,” Cundy said on the Sports Bar.
“They gave Mo Salah a two-year contract on £400,000-a-week, they gave the contract to the wrong player!
“They should have given that money to Trent, in his prime.
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“So he’s walked on a free, they’ve both walked on a free.
“So they give the money to Trent, and all the Liverpool fans moaning… they’ve put their eggs in the wrong basket, Liverpool.
“They’ve ballsed this right up, they should have given Trent, at the peak of his powers, give him what he wanted, sit down, do the deal, do the deal earlier, and let Salah go.
“Now all of a sudden, you find they’ve gone on a free… wow!
“I mean, that is a mess… that is an absolute mess.”
The brutal Salah truth Reds can’t ignore
Salah’s attacking output this season, or lack thereof, gives credence to Cundy’s argument.
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After a campaign in which he netted 29 league goals, the second-best goalscoring season in his Liverpool tenure, Salah’s form has endured a drastic reduction.
The 33-year-old has netted just five times in the Premier League this term, meaning he is at serious risk of finishing a season with single figures for the first time in his Liverpool career.
Salah’s downturn in attacking contributions has gone hand-in-hand with a dismal title defence from Liverpool, who sit 5th in the top flight with 49 points, 21 behind league leaders Arsenal.
Fan verdict
Ex-professional boxer and Reds fan Paul Smith was on eSPORTY’s latest episode of Inside Liverpool hours before the Salah news dropped.
And Smith was already concerned the club would be left to rue some poor decisions last summer.
He said: “It’s scary that we’ve spent as much money as we’ve spent – and we’re probably going to need to spend the same to bolster up the midfield, defence and attack.
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“We’re suffering from the players we’ve lost. Diogo Jota was obviously a separate case… but Luis Diaz (who joined Bayern Munich) and Alexander-Arnold.
“We’re missing pace on the wings and it’s not a coincidence that Salah has dropped off in form. We need to strengthen up and we need to get back in the market again.
“It’s not a good prospect to think that the owners are going to have to spend big again.”
The Reds and Salah will look to rediscover form when the Premier League returns after the international break when they host Fulham on April 12.
