‘Has to’ - Mo Salah proves Gary Neville claim wrong by signing Liverpool contract

Gary Neville may well have been wrong about Mohamed Salah.

The Egyptian has finally ended speculation surrounding his future by putting pen-to-paper on a new deal.

Salah has extended his Anfield stay by two years, penning terms until 2025 having previously been set to see his contract expire next year.

The deal will see Salah almost double his weekly wage, now set to take home in excess of £350,000 per week.

Though, many Liverpool fans will feel he deserves it having established legendary status during his five years on Merseyside so far.

Despite being a winger, Salah is now Liverpool’s ninth top scorer in the club’s history, and he needs just 30 more goals to move above Steven Gerrard in fifth.

During drawn out contract negotiations, we saw Salah linked with a number of clubs, including the likes of Real Madrid.

And during months upon months of uncertainty, Sky Sports pundit Neville made a prediction about Salah.

“I don’t think he will stay at Liverpool for the rest of his career,” Neville said at Sky Sports’ Overlap fans’ forum. “It’s my personal view. It’s always been that view but I could be wrong.

“The Premier League would be weaker if he left. I just think if you look at someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Kylian Mbappe, it’s not all about the money.

“There’s a project and there’s something they have to achieve in their lives. They have to play at certain clubs, they have to go and experience certain things.

“I think Salah’s got to experience Real Madrid, the Bernabeu – Real Madrid are going to come back, by the way.

“I know it’s not great at the moment at Barcelona and Madrid but Salah is similar to those I’ve just mentioned, I think he has to have that on his CV at the end of his career.

“I think he’s done an unbelievable job at Liverpool. I’ve just always felt he wants a Paris [Saint-Germain], a Real Madrid, a Barcelona and I think he’ll go and get it.

“But I might be wrong.”

Of course, we can’t say Neville is completely wrong yet, but Salah would be 33 if he leaves at the end of this new contract, and a move to one of those other clubs does now look unlikely.

Clearly, Salah’s desire to play for Real Madrid is significantly less that estimated by Neville, and Liverpool fans will be delighted that is the case.