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One of the successes of modern Manchester City was to retain Sergio Agüero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany for so long.
The trio was central to City’s decade of success and at the same time was courted by the best European clubs.
Liverpool now face a similar situation with Mo Salah.
Star forward Mohamed Salah has hinted that he could leave Liverpool for Spain
Salah’s departure would be a serious blow to Liverpool and Premier League champion Jurgen Klopp
One of the best players in the world, Salah is 28, so we can confidently say that these will likely be his best years.
Salah gave an interview to the Spanish newspaper AS the day after Liverpool beat Tottenham last week and it was published over the weekend.
In it, they asked him about a possible signing for Real Madrid or Barcelona, and he said he did not know what would happen in the future, adding that “everything is in the hands of Liverpool.”
An answer of something and nothing, some would say. But others would look at the context of the interview and start wondering.
Some important background here is that Salah does not do interviews. Well, almost never.
In Liverpool, the media team fondly jokes about Salah’s habit of rejecting all requests with a big, endearing smile.
Salah rarely conducts interviews, but has now spoken to media that are sympathetic to the Spanish parties.
Since his arrival from Rome three and a half years ago, he has spoken to the written media in English on only two occasions and both times it was in a group after a significant moment or achievement.
This is entirely your prerogative. He is not the only player to take this approach (coincidentally, Agüero is another) and no athlete should be criticized for wanting to be reserved.
But now Salah has decided to speak to a Spanish media known for being particularly sympathetic to Real Madrid.
By doing so, Salah and those who represent him would have known the question about his future would arise. But he did the interview anyway. So yeah we wonder what this is all about and no doubt the people in Liverpool will too.
The more pertinent question is what they do about it.
Salah showed his brilliance by scoring two superb goals in the final stages at Crystal Palace
Money is a possibility. Salah has two and a half years left on his contract. Liverpool could offer you a new one. Whatever is in it, arguably it would be worth it.
But even that may not be enough. It wasn’t enough for former Liverpool stars Luis Suárez or Raheem Sterling or Philippe Coutinho.
They all moved on simply because they felt their careers and personal interests would be better served elsewhere and at some point Salah may do the same.
There is a strong argument that you have everything you need in Liverpool. Money, medals, happiness and the chance to win more on a team that continues to evolve under a coach who has the ability to further improve you as a player.
Unbridled Liverpool were in their prime as they posted a 7-0 demolition at Selhurst Park
These are the arguments that persuaded the City trio to stay when phone calls came from Spain and indeed from London.
However, sometimes that is not enough. Sometimes a player just wants to play and live somewhere else and experience the thrill of playing for another historic club before the candle goes out on a short career.
And if that happens with Salah, if he decides to go, then we must keep two things in mind.
Salah’s sumptuous second goal was the choice as he came in to score two exquisite late goals.
First of all, it won’t mark the end of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. The club now has sufficient resources and is organized to prosper without any players. Second, we must not blame Salah.
He is not a Liverpudlian and as such any feeling of loyalty or emotional attachment will be just as deep. It is an international weapon for hire, one of the best in existence.
So if he leaves at some point, we shouldn’t wonder why and we shouldn’t boo him on his return. We should give thanks.
What he has already given us is more than enough.
UEFA should put Russia’s plan on red alert
Along with France and Germany, Russia is on a list of uefa finalists to host the European Championship if the coronavirus prevents it from going forward across the continent next summer as planned.
This is Russia, guilty of systematic, state-sponsored doping in all sports. If uefa has anything on them, they will put a red pen across the name of Russia immediately.
The sham of the forest is an insult to proud history
Nottingham Forest once accomplished special things and in doing so represented something. Forest, with its beautiful stadium next to Trent, showed that it was not necessary to come from London, Manchester, Milan, Liverpool, Munich or Madrid to win in Europe.
Now the forests are a mess and it is not difficult to understand why.
Since they were bought by Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis in the summer of 2017, Forest has bought or loaned 70 players.
This summer alone, after narrowly missing the championship play-offs, they drafted 14. On Saturday at Millwall, only three of them were on the team.
They used to talk about having fans on the Forest board. They should have. Perhaps they could have done something to stop the betrayal of a great club’s history.
Nottingham Forest has turned into a mess and has signed 70 players since summer 2017
Crunch Time for Grealish
Jack Grealish has kept the captaincy of Aston Villa despite having been convicted of two driving offenses and there is nothing wrong with that. The 25-year-old deserves the opportunity to overcome his mistakes.
But CCTV footage of him crashing his car while breaking lockdown rules in March makes for a grim sight and the time of maturity really is now for Grealish.
Do you want to become a successful and influential international footballer in the next five years? Or is it just still a very good one?
We are about to find out.
