Former Liverpool midfielder Bolo Zenden says offering Mohamed Salah a short-term deal could be the compromise needed to keep him at the club beyond this season.
Salah has been in fine form, scoring and assisting again in Sunday’s win over Manchester City, but his deal expires at the end of the campaign and he has recently said he is currently “more out than in” when it comes to his Anfield future.
“Everybody would like to have Mo Salah in their team,” Zenden told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“The way he performs, what he brings to the team, what he brings to the fans – you would think they would give him a contract to stay. In a financial sense, I’m sure Salah would be looking for a long-term contract and I don’t think Liverpool would offer that.
“If he is offered another year I think he should just take it and then he can take it from year to year.
“We’ve seen it at Real Madrid. You can still stay for two, three, four years by signing one-year deals. But, if he wants the full package right away I’m not sure the club will give it to him and then I think he would be more likely to leave.”
Liverpool moved nine points clear with another authoritative display on Sunday, and Zenden believes it was a “nearly perfect performance”.
“If you look at how they started there was a lot of energy, they were able to press City high up the pitch,” he added.
“We all know City like to play from the back from the goalkeeper up the pitch but they didn’t get over the halfway line at certain points in the game and that was very impressive. If they did so Liverpool were quite composed.
“Of course, to play City there are always moments in the game where you struggle a little bit but they held their lines tight and were still lethal on the counter.”
Listen to the full chat on BBC Sounds from 08:45