Mohamed Salah was in a positive mood Liverpool training as he closes in on signing a new deal with the club.
For a number of months, is has been unclear whether the Reds hero would stay at the club upon the expiry of his contract this summer, with it at times looking like he would leave, but the opposite now seems likely.
Mail Sport understands he is closing in on signing a new two-year deal with the club, and Virgil van Dijk is likely to follow suit after dropping a significant hint over his future twice in the last week.
One man who will be pleased with the news is Jamie Carragher, who was accused of being ‘obsessed’ with Salah by the man himself after he had commented on a social media post from the Egyptian showing himself, Trent Alexander-Arnold and van Dijk – the three out-of-contract stars at Liverpool in the summer.
After Carragher had suggested Salah and Alexander-Arnold could ‘take a leaf’ out of van Dijk’s book regarding the way he dealt with the saga, Salah said: ‘I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with me,’ accompanied by a winking face.
Carragher said he has ‘always’ been obsessed with the Egyptian, and he has weighed in again on Salah’s latest post.
Mohamed Salah was all smiles in Liverpool training as news broke that he is close to signing a new deal at the club
Jamie Carragher said his ‘obsession’ with Salah ‘continues’ after the duo traded words earlier this season
Salah, 32, shared two snaps to his near-20million X followers on Wednesday evening after news had broken about progress in his contract talks.
One showed the forward appearing to be laughing while undergoing some gym work, and the other saw a shot of the canteen, where he appeared to be sat with Dominik Szoboszlai playing a board game.
Salah could be sat on a bar stool with his leg up, a drink in front of him as Szoboszlai appeared to ponder his next move.
In the background, Andy Robertson could be spotted taking in a drink, with Conor Bradley also present.
Fans went wild in the comment section of the post, with fan channels in particular full of praise.
The most liked reply, however, came from Carragher, who posted ‘the obsession continues’, accompanied by a red heart emoji.
Salah has attracted mass interest from Saudi Arabia in the last two years. That saw Al Ittihad make a £150million bid in August 2023, which was swiftly rejected by Liverpool.
The Saudis have retained an interest in Salah and explored whether they could convince him to join them this summer, when his Liverpool contract is set to expire. The 32-year-old has long been the ‘dream target’ of the Saudi Pro League.
Carragher said he has ‘always’ been obsessed with the Egyptian as he urged him to sign a new deal at Anfield
Salah has attracted mass interest from Saudi Arabia in the last two years, but he is now expected to stay at Anfield
Liverpool are also expected to get a contract extension over the line for captain Virgil van Dijk
Salah himself has publicly discussed his contract saga several times, saying in November that he was ‘more out than in’ and telling Sky Sports that this was his last season at the club.
Many observers viewed this as a tactic from Salah to put pressure on Liverpool’s hierarchy, led by Fenway Sports Group (FSG) chief Michael Edwards and new sporting director Richard Hughes, to extend his deal.
A contract offer has been on the table for some time but Salah and his representative, Ramy Abbas, wanted a better deal. FSG have a long-standing policy of not extending any deal for players in their 30s but fans have called for the owners to find an exception here.
