Mo Salah inches closer to new Liverpool contract but with one CRAZY detail

Mo Salah is nearing a new contract with Liverpool. But there's one crazy detail in there that comes as a surprise.

Just about everywhere is now reporting that Mo Salah is closing in on a new contract with Liverpool. The Egyptian should sign a two-year deal with the Reds to prolong his stay at Anfield.

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It's been a long year but this one should be wrapped up soon. The talk all season has been about Salah's contract situation, along with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The trio are all free to depart at the end of the campaign, of course. They've each been able to discuss terms with non-English clubs since January 1st, too.

But there's never really been a sense that either Salah or Van Dijk have done that. Their priorities have been Liverpool - they've said as much in just about every interview.

It's now believed that both will re-sign with the Reds for at least another two years. It's the outcome we all hoped for but there is a detail in there that comes as a surprise.

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Mo Salah's new contract

Liverpool have always wanted to re-sign Salah. There's never been a single question about that or talks would have ended a long time ago.

The problem was always that Salah's age (he turns 33 this summer) made a new contract on a big wage risky. Once a player is over 30, they're likely to decline and that could come rapidly.

Liverpool don't want to put players on big contracts if that decline could kick in. Otherwise, you end up paying an enormous amount to someone who isn't remotely worth it.

Salah is Liverpool's highest-paid player ever and by some way. The crazy thing about this whole situation, then, is The Times reporting that the Egyptian will remain on that same wage.

He's not taking a pay cut and, apparently, that was never on the agenda. It suggests the entire delay was over contract length, with Salah presumably wanting more than two years.

But it also suggests that neither party was too worried about this situation. Both wanted a deal and Liverpool were happy to pay him - it just came down to how big a risk they were willing to take.

Two years seems like the right amount of risk. It eliminates a repeat situation next season, while Salah gets two more years of being one of the Premier League's best-paid players.

We just never thought Liverpool would actually give a 33-year-old that money. A pay cut would have been understandable from everyone, especially to get the deal done.

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Less money, more years? That seems like an obvious one. Instead, it's the two-year contract at a reported £350k per week.

It's a shock but a welcome one.