Mueez Ajao
– Mohamed Salah has given Liverpool a major boost ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid by confirming he will not leave the club this summer.
– The 29-year-old, who shared this season’s Premier League Golden Boot award with Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-Min, is out of contract at Anfield at the end of next season and has yet to commit to a new deal with Jurgen Klopp’s team.
– Uncertainty over the Egypt international’s future had led to speculation that Salah could leave Liverpool in order to avoid his departure as a free agent a year later.
Also Read: Son Heung-min shares Premier League Golden Boot with Mo Salah
– Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have both been linked with the former Chelsea and AS Roma forward due to his failure to agree new terms at Liverpool.
– But although he stopped short of saying he would sign a new deal at Anfield, Salah has now said that he will see out the final year of his contract.
– “I am just focused on the team and don’t want to talk about my contract,” Salah said at Liverpool’s pre-Champions League media conference. “But I am staying next season for sure, that’s for sure.
– “In my mind, I don’t focus about the contract at the moment. I don’t want to be selfish. I said two months ago, it’s all about the team now. It’s a really important week for us, so I am just focused on the team. I want to win the Champions League again.”
– Salah will face Madrid four years after being injured during the Champions League final defeat against the Spanish club in Kiev in 2018.
– He admits that he is determined to avenge that defeat on what he claims was the worst night of his career.
– “I’m very motivated,” Salah said. “I am motivated through the roof, especially after what happened last time and what happened on Sunday [in the Premier League], everybody is motivated to win the Champions League.
– “Coming off after 30 minutes the last time [against Madrid] was the worst moment of my career.”
– Meanwhile, Sadio Mane confirmed that he will announce his future plans after the final against Madrid on Saturday.
– “This question [about my future] I will answer after Champions League,” he told Sky Sports on Wednesday. “If I’m staying or not, I’m going to answer after Champions League.”
– Both Mane and Salah’s existing contracts at Anfield run out in 2023.
– Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said talk surrounding the futures of his star players won’t have an impact the team’s focus ahead of the final.
– “Not at all. What do you mean? If we win then they will want to go now? Or… We are in talks with all the players,” Klopp told a news conference. “But no [it has not affected the players], now is not the time.
– “Sometimes players have this idea, we have another, sometimes they don’t match immediately but we work together, we have known each other for ages. It’s all fine.
– “It is all clear, not one of them is waiting to hear from us what we want to do.”
– Klopp also confirmed that there is a “good chance” that Thiago will play in the final despite limping off in the final Premier League match against Wolves on Sunday.
