Liverpool may have to consider selling Mohamed Salah in the summer transfer window to help fund Jurgen Klopp’s rebuild, according to former player John Aldridge.
Salah endured a miserable time in Liverpool's 1-0 defeat by Bournemouth on Saturday as he missed a penalty. The Egyptian forward was anonymous against the Premier League's leakiest defence and capped off a poor showing by smashing a spot-kick wide after Adam Smith had been penalised for handball.
The Reds failed to create much of note, with Virgil van Dijk’s two headers from set pieces the closest they came to scoring. Philip Billing’s goal was enough for the Cherries to climb off the bottom of the Premier League table and dent Liverpool ’s hopes of finishing in the top four.
Aldridge was shocked by how poor his old side were – and reserved particular criticism for Salah. He told the Sunday World: “In the last few seasons, Klopp’s team had too much pace, power and desire for these relegation battlers to handle. Yet all that has changed – and I look at Mohamed Salah’s body language, and something isn’t right.
“After his goals against United last Sunday, I was looking to Salah to lead the team for the rest of the season and starring banging in two or three goals a week consistently. We all know how good Salah has been and still is, but he was dreadful yesterday and won’t need me to tell him that.
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“Take his missed penalty out of the equation and he turned in a display that lacked passion – and I hate to write negative things about a player who is an all-time Liverpool great.
Mohamed Salah had poor body language in the Bournemouth loss (Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images) HAVE YOUR SAY! What do you make of John Aldridge's comments? Comment below.
“There may be a debate over whether selling Salah this summer and using that money to reinvest in the team may be an option, but that idea can wait until the end of the season. Between now and then, Salah has to lead Liverpool as the senior striker – and he simply didn’t do that at Bournemouth."
Salah signed a three-year contract extension with Liverpool last summer, tying him to the club until June 2025. The bumper deal, worth around £350,000 per week, established him as Liverpool’s key attacker for the years to come.
He has 178 goals and 74 assists in 292 appearances for the club in all competitions and recently passed Robbie Fowler to become Liverpool’s all-time record scorer in the Premier League. The 30-year-old has 22 goals and 11 assists in 38 appearances so far this season but has blown more hot and cold than usual.
Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch accused Klopp’s side of being complacent at Bournemouth. “We saw it with the goal – people switching off, not tracking back with the same intensity that they had last week,” he said on BT Sport.
“Top teams don’t play like that. Also a top, top team, when they come to Bournemouth, you expect them to have 20 shots on goal, have some cleared off the line, some luck here and there. But in all honesty, Bournemouth deserved it today.”
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