Sam Allardyce says Liverpool player would’ve been sold this year if Alex Ferguson were in charge | OneFootball

Alex Ferguson would’ve sold one high-profile Liverpool player this year if he were the manager at Anfield.

That’s according to Sam Allardyce, who was speaking at length about the Premier League champions on the latest episode of his podcast.

One of the topics which came up for discussion was the form of Mo Salah, who penned a new two-year deal with the Reds six months ago after lengthy speculation over his future but, after beginning this season with just three goals in 10 games, has had his performances called into question by Wayne Rooney.

Allardyce claims Ferguson would’ve sold Salah this year

Allardyce was joined on No Tippy Tappy Football by Dorking Wanderers manager Marc White, who put the cat among the pigeons by asking whether Ferguson would’ve offloaded Salah (who turned 33 in June) rather than handing him a contract extension.

The former England boss replied: “Probably. He knew when to move a player on, without a doubt. He was a master [at that], and he was a master at maximising the fee. He let them go just before they ended up being not as valuable.”

The 70-year-old added: “How many players have we seen who are in the last year of their contract, and I’m not just picking out Mo Salah. They get the big contract they’ve been waiting for, because they’re in the last year of their contract, and they decide to stay.

“In all fairness, Mo Salah probably could’ve gone and earned a lot more money in Saudi [Arabia], but we have seen other players that seem to decline after getting a bigger contract than they had before.”

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Ferguson jettisoned plenty of big names at Old Trafford

Ferguson had a history of offloading high-profile players from Man United when they still appeared to be in (or close to) their prime, including Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It’s entirely hypothetical as to whether he’d have decided to cash in on Salah before the Egyptian’s previous contract ended in the summer just gone, but considering the winger’s phenomenal goalscoring consistency, it would’ve been lunacy for Liverpool to let him leave this year.

Admittedly the 33-year-old has been subdued of late by his extraordinary standards, but history suggests that he’ll breeze through the 20-goal mark agains this season, even allowing for him missing the festive period due to Egypt’s Africa Cup of Nations involvement.

Ferguson may feel that the ruthless manner in which he cut players adrift was vindicated by Man United continually winning trophies throughout his reign at Old Trafford, but even he’d have thought long and hard about what to do with Salah if he were in charge at Anfield now.

From a Liverpool perspective, all that matters is the current hierarchy had the good sense to reward him with a new contract at a time when his departure on a free transfer would almost certainly have been calamitous for the Reds and would’ve diluted the title-winning celebrations in the spring.

You can watch Slot’s full pre-Manchester United press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: