Mo Salah poised for Liverpool exit, linked with shock move

Liverpool striker Mo Salah has made it clear that it won't be easy to get him to just put pen to paper on a contract extension with the club. In fact, it seems that he is closer to an exit than ever before, with numerous media outlets suddenly linking him with a shock move to Real Madrid.

Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler believes that Salah will not be extending his stay at Anfield despite having had a successful career with the club since joining them in 2017 from AS Roma. In those five seasons, Salah has made a name for himself as one of the top strikers in Europe, scoring 156 times in 254 appearances.

His name has been synonymous with the Reds in recent years, but as he enters the final year of his contract, it appears as though the Egyptian is looking for big changes.

"Liverpool are not going to break its salary structure to retain him, just as they didn't with Mané" said Fowler, in a column written for the Daily Mirror. He is referring to another Liverpool striker, Sadio Mane, who confirmed his move to join Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich earlier this month.

Liverpool did not budge when it comes to Mane's renewal, and it seems that they are not willing to break the bank even for Salah. "The club made clear, precise and emotionless calculations with Mané. He wanted a big contract as one of the best players in the world," said Fowler, adding that "Liverpool ran an analysis and decided to sell him and buy Darwin Nunez to keep the salary structure in place."

He further stated that there is no doubt the club has already made its calculations for Salah as well. While the club would certainly want to keep the Egyptian forward, they are not keen on upending their finances even for him.

"I don't know all the answers, but what comes to mind is they won't break the structure to keep him. If they were prepared to do that, it would have already happened," added Fowler.

Salah is reportedly asking to double his salary, but the club does not want to meet his demands. Now, the striker is being linked with Real Madrid, after the Spanish giants failed in their bid to sign Kylian Mbappe.

Real Madrid executives have not spoken publicly about any interest, and it remains to be seen if this is just a speculation that is being fuelled by the media.