16 Nov 2021 04:34:00
So that’s Mo and Thiago to Barcelona - perhaps we should just set Xavi up to be our next manager when JK leaves.

16 Nov 2021 06:46:27
Barca couldn't afford a packet of crisps at the moment and why would Mo go to a team who need a massive re build which could take years.

16 Nov 2021 07:16:33
Sunshine? Because they are still a massive club? Because its one of the clubs Salah had a desire to go to? Because they might pay more in wages than LFC and last but not least because he might be interested in the project?

16 Nov 2021 07:38:51
Maybe Irish but he's 30 years old and that's some project. Plus as is plainly obvious. they can't afford him. Unless he goes on a free transfer. Everything is possible but can't see it myself. Would be for money if he goes.

16 Nov 2021 07:42:30
Lazy journalism.
By the weekend both Salah and Barcelona will be linked with someone else. By this time next week Salah will be signing for Barcelona again.
The press need to generate sales/ clicks.

16 Nov 2021 08:47:40
Salahs agent maybe putting this out in the media to force Liverpool into making the improved contract offer?

16 Nov 2021 09:25:23
Thing is, they don’t have to afford him now. They can sit out the next 18 months and get him for free and there’s nothing we can do about it. At 31 on a free transfer that would still be great business for them.

16 Nov 2021 09:57:48
Anyway, Salah has said he wants to finish his career at Liverpool hasn’t he 😉.

16 Nov 2021 11:35:28
I think his words were something along the lines of “I’d like to finish my career here, but it depends on the club”. Which is distinctly similar to what Wijnaldum said at approximately the same point in his contract.

The owners have two choices, either pay him what he’s worth, or run the risk of him leaving without any ability to adequately replace him with a player of like for like ability and quality.

16 Nov 2021 11:48:49
Are we actually talking about Barcelona? You know the club who have wasted so much money over the past decade that they literally had to let their greatest ever player leave because they couldn’t afford his wages any longer? Hands up if, sunshine excluded, you can think of a good reason to go and play for Barcelona right now….

16 Nov 2021 15:10:53
Just because Xavi was a world class player, it does not translate into world class coaching ability nor does it pull Barcelona out of the neck high financial mess they are still in (which prominent club has he coached at to warrant all these high expectations - why doesn't Gerrard get the same treatment? ) . And even if Salah does decide to go there will his direct, speed-based style of play go well with the possession based tiki-taka style of play that Xavi will institute (my opinion)?

I think all is well for Salah at LFC. He meshes well with the environment, seems to be happy, scores goals and is the big fish in the big pond (EPL) . It's just about the big bucks that need to go along with all of that. Barcelona are a few years away from getting back to their previous levels. Is better Salah off staying at the peak where he is, or joining a project where success will probably happen when he's past his peak and on the down slope. I don't always buy the "it's a great future project and I want to be part of it" which is dished out by players. Look around you. Everyone wants everything now.

16 Nov 2021 18:25:43
ArAy, I think Gerrard doesn’t get the same reverence as he comes across as the typical English dullard footballer (see Lampard, Scholes, et al) with fairly limited ideas on the game. I know that sound harsh but it is what it is.

Xavi was, like it or not, one of the most technically and tactically brilliant footballers of his or any generation (and although Gerrard was a brilliant footballer, he wasn’t as technical or tactically as good as Xavi), Xavi is a very intelligent bloke and speaks multiple languages, he has been coached in the Barcelona style since he was a child, so there is good chance that he can translate that experience into management.

As for Salah, we just have to accept that foreign footballers do harbour a desire to play for the Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s of this world, it would be churlish to think that even with their own current self inflicted catastrophe, that they’re anything other than a huge club. If they’re prepared to pay him what we’re not, I’d imagine that might seal the deal. He might also see it as his only chance to win a Balon D’or because of the exposure there. The fact is, the club needs to act and act quickly because once we’re in that last 18 months, the chances of retaining Salah are very very slim.

16 Nov 2021 18:26:54
In total agreement Johnny. can't see it at all. But who knows hey.

16 Nov 2021 19:46:46
Barca can’t afford a bus ticket right now BUT they can always dream. Lazy journalism, IMO.

{Ed025's Note - they have players to sell and want new blood oli, dont rule them out just yet mate..

17 Nov 2021 13:04:39
In Ansu Fati, Pedro and Gavi, they seem to have enough new blood to start with, Ed0666. But I still think it will take at least 3+ years to get back to previous high levels.