Former Man United star and pundit, Gary Neville, believes Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool, while Jamie Carragher thinks Real Madrid and Barcelona’s struggles mean his former club would have no reason to be worried.
Salah has been reportedly linked with a pre-emptive move to the Spanish league amid reports he is disgruntled with Anfield, prompting Neville to claim he always thought Salah be looking for greener pastures.
He told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football: “I thought Salah would always leave Liverpool.
“I said it a couple of years ago but it was perhaps a bit premature, but I just always had the feeling that he would want to go and explore the feeling of playing in a different country, that he would have aspirations to do so, so it doesn’t surprise me.”
Neville unhesitantly picked Salah ahead of team-mate Sadio Mane in his Premier League team of 2020.
“The reason I have always chosen Salah over Mane is because he is cold blooded,” he added.
“Mane is a team player, he would put the team first, Salah is cold blooded but that’s not a negative.
“That makes Liverpool vicious as a team because he’s the type to do it again and again, he will not stop.
“That’s probably why the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain are probably in his ear.
“He’s got two-and-a-half years on his contract, I don’t think Liverpool would be forced to sell and they won’t be messed around because they’ve got a strength and authority there in Jurgen Klopp, so they can just relax a little bit.
“But there will come a decision in the next six months, the next 18 months, on what to do with him because if he doesn’t sign a new contract, they won’t let him run the contract down, and they’ll see an opportunity to bring in someone else.”
Meanwhile on the other hand, Carragher said: “I don’t really think it’s a debate now as much as it was a few years ago.
“I think even when Manchester United were the top dogs and (Cristiano) Ronaldo went to Real Madrid, it felt like a step up because Real Madrid are Real Madrid, but I just feel like the two Spanish giants now have fallen so far.
“I think Salah, he’s got two-and-a-half years to go, I’m not really looking at it as too much of a problem.
“Real Madrid spent a lot of money on (Eden) Hazard when he was that age, it’s just that year or two older. If he did go, it would be massive money, I think his time right now, he’s over that age.”