EXCLUSIVE: Salah WARNED his media games will backfire | OneFootball

However, a source familiar with the situation has recently identified that Salah seems to be playing “games” and that this could “backfire” if he’s not careful.

Mo's media performance causes problems

Anfield Watch have attained an exclusive angle on the Salah contract situation from someone close to the source.

They have chosen to comment on the situation below:

“The Mo media games will probably backfire a bit.

Why say you'd like to stay specifically there if there's definitely more cash for you somewhere else[?]

They'll [the club] know the other options are less attractive so he loses leverage.

If he just stays quiet and rejects, they then get scared and chase him.

The minute he makes excuses for what he needs to stay and says he's open to staying, they'll probably know he doesn't have an amazing offer.

If you have that offer, you either leverage it back immediately or just politely decline and end talks.

They don't need to match a higher offer in a less desirable location any more.

And in the interim, to double down their advantage, they'll have to seriously sound out any options for replacements to be prepared.”

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Digesting these quotes, we can distinguish that the board actually has an advantage. It seems to be that they are content with the current situation as there are no strong offers for Mo which entice them.

Last summer, Al-Ittihad were desperate to gain Salah. But the hype around moving to Saudi Arabia to play football has massively died down, similar to what happened with the Chinese Super League a few years ago; there isn’t much of a desire to participate.

It seems that the wingers demands play into Liverpool’s hands. The quotes suggest he is clutching at straws as there isn’t a club who want him for his price.

Salah is trying to entice the club to offer him a new deal with his comments, but they are playing the long game.

The quotes also identify that to really cash in on their advantage, the recruitment team will look for replacements for Mo. This will lead the Egyptian to panic and in turn, accept any offer that is given to him even if this means minimal pay rise and contract length.

Of course this is all speculation. But if this turns out to be true, Salah’s relationship with the club may be completely shattered following this treatment.

But for now, the board continue to ignore his requests.