Prediction for Mohamed Salah after Liverpool star hints at departure | Football | Sport

Micah Richards has claimed that Mohamed Salah is set to sign a new contract with Liverpool amid intense speculation over his future. Anfield fans were left in a frenzy following Salah's electrifying performance in the 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

After the game, there were signs that his time at the club was coming to an end. The Egyptian maestro not only scored a goal against United, but also provided two assists, giving Arne Slot his third consecutive win with his new team.

Despite being in the final year of his current contract, the former Man City defender calmed the Kop's nerves by insisting on The Rest is Football podcast that Salah will sign a new deal for a further “two years”. Salah himself had claimed to Sky Sports after the game that he had not heard anything from the club regarding the extension of his current contract, reports the Mirror.

“Nobody at the club has spoken to me about contracts so far, so I just thought: 'OK, I'll play my last season and then see what happens at the end of the season,'” he said. “I feel free to play football. We'll see what happens next year.”

Discussing Liverpool's situation with Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, Richards stressed how indispensable Salah is to the Reds, also claiming that the club would be hard-pressed to let him go after his heroics against United.

“I think he's going to stay,” said Richards. “I think there was an opportunity for him to leave, was it last year? I think there were rumours that Saudi Arabia would take him. Obviously Mane has gone to Saudi Arabia. I just think what's the point of selling him? He's in the best shape of his life.”

“He's in top shape. He's still working hard. He's still changing the game. The difference, and as much as we praise Liverpool, the difference today (Sunday) was probably Salah in the big moments, whether it was a pass or his goal, he just does it right.

“I just think he's 32. I think he'll sign a new contract. I think he'll sign for another two years. I don't think Liverpool can let him go for free, especially in the form he's in. I think they'll convince him to stay.”

The former England international is also confident Liverpool will work to keep Salah at the club after a summer of change at Anfield. He added: “(There is a) new manager, they want to see how it goes and what the plans are, but you can say he is very firm on his plans for the future.”

Commenting on Salah's comments after the United game, Liverpool head coach Slot said: “It's a lot of 'ifs'. At the moment he's one of us and I'm really happy he's one of us and he played really well. I don't talk about players' contracts but I could talk for hours about how Mo played today.”

Salah joined Liverpool from Roma for £36.5 million in June 2017. Since then, he has scored 214 goals in 352 appearances, making him the club's third-top goalscorer.