Are Liverpool's owners really ready to lose Mohamed Salah?

There’s a new addition to the array of banners on the Kop.

It features an image of Mohamed Salah doing his bow-and-arrow goal celebration with a concise message to Liverpool’s owners: ‘FSG. He fires a bow. Now give Mo his dough.’

In just 52 days, Salah could sign a pre-contract agreement with a club overseas. With every passing week, the prospect of this being the farewell tour for one of the greatest players in the club’s illustrious history grows.

But what’s abundantly clear is that Anfield is not ready to contemplate saying goodbye. And as Salah basked in the adoration after another match-winning performance against Aston Villa on Saturday night, he looked as content with life at Liverpool as he’s ever been.

His numbers are extraordinary.

Salah became the first player across the big five European leagues to register double figures for both goals and assists in all competitions so far this season.

No Liverpool player has ever reached those twin milestones so early in a season during the Premier League era. Salah required just 17 appearances — the previous fastest was Luis Suarez (23 games) in 2013-14.

Having created the opener for Darwin Nunez and then coolly converted the second himself after a blistering break from inside his own half, Salah boasts a goal involvement every 68 minutes this season.

“Special player,” captain Virgil van Dijk told reporters following a victory which took Arne Slot’s side five points clear at the Premier League summit. “He’s been like that for so many years, not just this year. I see the hard work he puts in on a daily basis. It’s how consistent he is, especially with his numbers but with his performances as well. He’s a special athlete, a special player and a legend of the club. I’m very pleased that we still share a pitch together.”

Just look at Salah’s peers.

Only Salah’s fellow Egyptian Omar Marmoush, of Eintracht Frankfurt, and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane have more goal involvements this season.

Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, still smarting from being overlooked for the Ballon d’Or, and Barcelona’s precocious teenager Lamine Yamal cannot compete with Salah’s output.

This is not a man who is winding down in the twilight of his career. He’s a remarkably gifted athlete with an insatiable desire to keep delivering at the highest level. He’s still rewriting the record books.

There’s sound logic behind Fenway Sports Group’s cautious approach to handing out lucrative contract extensions to players in their thirties.

You have to take the emotion out of the decision-making process. You can’t reward someone for what they have done, it’s about what you believe they still have to offer in the years to come. You don’t want to be lumbered with paying superstar wages to a fading bit-part player. Father Time catches up with everyone eventually.

There are certainly flaws to the argument that it was negligent of Liverpool not to get Salah tied down to a new deal prior to this season.

He cut a disgruntled figure in the closing months of the Jurgen Klopp era. He struggled for form after returning from a hamstring injury — scoring just two goals in his final nine appearances (one of which was a penalty).

It made sense to wait and see how he responded to Slot’s arrival. But now the evidence is so compelling that it would be crazy not to push the boat out to keep him.

“No matter what happens, I will never forget what scoring at Anfield feels like,” Salah posted on social media after scoring the winner against Brighton a week earlier.

If that was designed to crank up the pressure on Liverpool in terms of the negotiations being led by sporting director Richard Hughes, his dazzling performances since should act as a much more effective tool.

Salah is on course to comfortably break the 20-goal barrier for the eighth succession season. He’s just seven goals behind the legendary Billy Liddell as he eyes fourth place on the club’s all-time scorers list.

But it’s his all-round contribution that makes him so priceless. It’s his movement, his link-up play, his work ethic off the ball, how he occupies defenders, and his creative spark. It’s the seventh time in eight seasons that he’s reached double figures for Liverpool in terms of assists, but the previous earliest in a campaign he had achieved that was in the February of 2021-22.

He’s also incredibly durable. The hamstring issues of last season are a distant memory. He’s been involved in all 17 games this term, starting 15 and being brought on by Slot in the two Carabao Cup ties.

All parties have remained tight-lipped over the discussions. It’s unclear what’s on the table compared to what Salah wants. His current deal is worth around £350,000 per week plus bonuses.

If money is the overriding factor then surely the Saudi Pro League awaits. Liverpool wouldn’t be able to compete with those numbers.

But there’s no indication Salah is ready to turn his back on chasing the biggest prizes as he approaches his 33rd birthday next June. His family are happy and settled in Cheshire.

Liverpool simply can’t allow the unthinkable to happen — losing him to a European rival for nothing next summer.

“Just give him what he wants” doesn’t work as an approach to business, especially when you are trying to negotiate extensions for other key personnel such as Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold at the same time. There has to be a structure to these things.

But committing, say, £400,000 per week for another two years, which represents an outlay of around £41.6m, hardly looks like much of a gamble given the heights Salah is still consistently reaching.

“Physically, I can definitely see Mo playing at the highest level for years to come,” Van Dijk added.

“Mentally, that’s in his hands. With certain players, you see how they keep playing and he’s definitely one of them.”

Salah will get a well-earned breather during the international break. With Egypt already qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, he’s been rested for their games against Cape Verde and Botswana.

It would be the perfect time for Liverpool to further enhance the feel-good factor around the club by ending the impasse over his future. Give Mo his dough.

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)