Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has reported a breakthrough in contract talks between Liverpool and their two key stars, Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah.
Speaking on his podcast, the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano said: “We always talk about Mo Salah and Liverpool are still in talks with him, let’s see when it will be agreed and when everything will be in place, but at the moment they’re still in talks.
“I wanted to add that the Liverpool board are also prepared to meet Sadio Mane and his agents to discuss his new contract.
“This is an important update for Liverpool because we always talk about Salah being out of contract in 2023, but also Sadio Mane is out of contract in 2023.
“Liverpool are preparing the first approaches with Mane to enter into this contract story.
“Let’s see if they are able to do it with Salah and also with Mane, but this is the plan for Liverpool to talk and to protect Mane because many clubs are keeping tabs on the situation.”
Lack of transfer activity at Liverpool frustrating fans
Since the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) took over Liverpool, the transfer activity at the club has been underwhelming. Many players have come, flopped and gone in this period, and this looks to have made the group extremely meticulous about who they bring into the club.
This has also led to a few transfer windows with little or no transfer activity, to which fans have reacted furiously a number of times. Centre-back Ibrahima Konate was Liverpool’s only business in a summer that saw a lot of amazing transfer activity by clubs all across Europe, most notably PSG who signed Lionel Messi and Manchester United who signed Cristiano Ronaldo.
Fans had some very colorful words this season especially, after being given false hope following an equally quiet 2020/21 summer and winter transfer window.
FSG came out to explain their lack of transfer window activity after angry fans reacted to the way the 2021/22 summer window went.
“Half of transfers fail,” Dr Ian Graham, director of research for Liverpool stated. This statement is a result of analytics of transfers at major clubs, including Liverpool.
Not that Liverpool has any need for these transfers anyway, as their academy products have more than stepped up to fill the slots that needed to be filled. Players like Curtis Jones, Neco Williams, Harvey Elliott, Caoimhin Kelleher have been awesome replacements in the middle of the park and in between the sticks.
Their core squad is also as reliable as they have always been, turning in wonderful performances week in week out like a well-oiled machine. Most of them have also committed their long-term futures to Liverpool as well, which will give fans hope for more amazing performances.
With the news of Salah’s and Mane’s renewal talks progressing, fans can rest easy for the meantime. However, FSG will still be looked at with scrutinising eyes by the Liverpool fans who would love for their club to challenge like other clubs in attracting top talents from all across the world.
Liverpool to play without four key players in January
The 2022 African Cup of Nations will be held in January and Liverpool will be losing their African contingent of Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah and Naby Keita to the tournament.
These are key players for Jürgen Klopp’s side, and with Salah and Mane leaving in January to represent their countries, the Reds will only be left with Takumi Minamino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Divock Origi, and injury-prone forwards Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota.
Jurgen Klopp will have to get every detail right in the absence of these key players and hope that whatever fix he has will be enough to keep Liverpool fighting to reclaim their crown from Manchester City and new title challengers, Chelsea.