Could Salah really leave Liverpool for Premier League rivals Man City, Chelsea or even Man Utd?

Could Mohamed Salah really leave Liverpool to join their Premier League rivals Manchester City, Chelsea, or even Manchester United?

Salah has played a vital role in the Reds' success under Jurgen Klopp over the past few years, having initially been snapped up from Roma for £37 million ($47m) in 2017.

The 29-year-old has helped Liverpool win Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup honours while scoring 156 goals, but it has been suggested that his time at Anfield is drawing to a close.

The likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona have been linked with the Egyptian for a while now although The Athletic is now reporting that he would prefer a move to another English club. So, could it really happen?

Could Salah really leave Liverpool?

The saga rumbles on, as far as Liverpool and Salah are concerned. We already knew the Egyptian was staying at Anfield next season, because he had told us himself, dropping that little nugget of information into a press conference ahead of the Champions League final.

'Let’s see after that,' he had teased, and as he heads into the final 12 months of his Reds contract, there is still no sign of a resolution being found.

If he is departing on a free - and it is interesting now to hear that his preference would be to stay in the Premier League, if Liverpool don’t come up with the goods - effectively, that means he is open to joining Manchester City or Chelsea.

Surely he wouldn’t jump to Manchester United, and surely the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and the Saudi Arabia-backed Newcastle wouldn’t satisfy his needs? It looks as though Sadio Mane will be on his way this summer, so Liverpool will need Salah more than ever next season.

They can trust his professionalism, conditioning and consistency, for sure. He’ll be there or thereabouts at the top of the goalscorers list once more. But beyond that, who knows where the story is headed? To the Etihad or to Stamford Bridge, perhaps? Surely not…

What's Salah's contract situation?

As it stands, Salah is set to become a free agent when his contract expires on June 30, 2023.

The player himself and Klopp have both confirmed that extension talks are ongoing, but there is not yet any sign of a final agreement being reached.

Salah wants to stay. He has made that clear all along, and the fact that it is now being reported he would be willing to agree a two-year extension suggests the desire to remain at Anfield is strong.

But money, rather than length of contract or the intangible ‘legacy’ issue, is the key factor here.

Salah and his agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, want a salary befitting one of the top players in world football.

Liverpool believe they have offered that, Team Salah disagree. It always looked unlikely that Salah would leave this summer, mainly because of a lack of obvious options.

However, his long-term future remains very much up in the air, and the Reds' main rivals now appear to be keeping a very close eye on his situation.

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