Mo Salah's new Liverpool contract sets DANGEROUS precedent

Mohamed Salah is staying at Liverpool and that can only really be described as a good thing.

Fans were tearing their hair out at the possibility that the club's best attacking player could leave for free, after delivering a campaign where he has 32 goals and 23 assists to his name.

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If it is meant to be, then this season is the Egyptian's best opportunity to win the Ballon D'Or, at times he has single-handedly carried the club on his back towards the Premier League title.

Getting him to agree to spending two more seasons on Merseyside, which will take his overall stay to 10 years, is massive. He is one of the best player's in English football history and he will most likely finish his career with us. It has been an enormous privilege to see him play in a Liverpool shirt.

But the recruitment team had to make some bold calls during the negotiating process to convince Salah to prolong his stay and while the club benefits greatly for having him on the pitch for the next two years, the repercussions his his extremely expensive contract will be significant.

Liverpool's wage bill sacrifices will hurt in the long-term

According to Ismael Mahmoud, Salah's new Liverpool wage is set to be £400,000 a week until 2027.

That would be a pay-rise of £50,000 a week for a now 32-year-old winger, whose level of performances will inevitably start to decline as he gets older.

Of course, this season is the exception to the rule. His 55 goal contributions represent the best season of his career since the 2017-18 campaign. What he has delivered is nothing short of remarkable.

However, you would expect his efforts next season to result in lesser attacking returns, although the exact nature of the drop-off is yet to be seen.

As mentioned earlier, Salah extending is only really a good thing. Arne Slot's side will be better off for having the Egyptian available as an asset instead of entering the next season without him.

However, when it comes to other player's contract extensions, not least Virgil Van Dijk, the salary expectations of the club are likely to be substantial. When set an ultimatum, Liverpool can find the money from somewhere and deliver the player's demands.

According to Capology, Salah is now earning £180,000 a week more than Liverpool's next highest earning, which is Van Dijk, although the Dutchman's terms are likely to change when his new deal is agreed.

Beyond that, you have Trent Alexander-Arnold on £180,000 a week, although he is incredibly likely to join Real Madrid this summer and then you'll find Andy Robertson on £160,000 a week - and his future is less than certain beyond this season as well.

All the cards have been laid on the table to keep Salah and the wage bill is incredibly uneven.

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From now on, the players will have the upper hand when it comes to contract negotiations, and that is a dangerous precedent to set. As the summer rolls on, the full impact of the Salah decision will unfold, but for now, the anticipated repercussions are enough to give you a pretty large headache.

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