“Would have done serious damage”- Shay Given says Liverpool did the right thing by not selling 31-year-old star

Shay Given says Liverpool did the right thing by not selling Mohamed Salah

Former Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given says it was important for Liverpool that Mohamed Salah did not leave the club this summer.

As per the BBC, there was interest in Salah from the Saudi Pro League but the Reds were not open to accepting any offers for him. The 31-year-old superstar is obviously one of Liverpool’s most important players.

Since joining from AS Roma in 2017, no one has topped him in the scoring charts at the club at the end of every season. This season, the form has continued, with four goals and four assists from seven games in all competitions.

Writing in his BBC column, Given stated:

“I think it was absolutely vital that Mohamed Salah didn’t leave too, despite the bids for him from Saudi Arabia that were reportedly getting bigger and bigger as deadline day went on.

“Liverpool have plenty of attacking options but the psychological impact on the club would have been huge if Salah had gone – he is a brilliant player of course, but it would also have done serious damage to the belief of the squad if they had lost him.”

Given is completely right. Salah has come to become the face of this football club in the same way that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres did during their heyday. He is a living legend here.

Salah signed a new three-year deal just last year which made him the club’s highest-earning player ever. So, at least he knows the Reds respect him a lot.

At 31, there is still a lot left in Salah’s legs to give and play at the very top level. Playing in Saudi Arabia just doesn’t have the same amount of clout even though they have the money to back their ambitions.

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It just feels like players may go there for a payday, especially those in the latter stages of their careers. Salah should still look to win everything that he can before calling quits on European football. Despite the presence of players like Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, we still need him.