The Liverpool contract situation no-one’s discussing that Michael Edwards needs to sort before departure

Mo Salah finally got the goal he was so desperate for.

When he tapped home in the 73rd minute to put Liverpool three goals to the good against Arsenal, a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Salah hadn’t scored in the past three matches. It must have felt like 300 for the Egyptian given his imperious form this season.

His strike in the 4-0 win over the Gunners took Salah to 16 for the season.

Again, in the pubs around Anfield, there will be concerning conversations about the winger’s contract. There continues to be no resolution, with Salah’s deal expiring in 2023.

Supporters have every right to be worried the Reds could lose the world’s best player. It’d make Jurgen Klopp’s side significantly weaker.

Mane’s future

But losing the man who teed-up Salah’s goal on a plate would be almost as seismic.

Sadio Mane squared pass ensured Salah couldn’t miss from close range to wrap up all three points.

And it was Mane who set Liverpool on their way to their emphatic victory to move second in the Premier League.

The Senegal international’s 39th-minute header turned a cagey affair into one the Reds would go on to dominate.

There might not be a more under-rated aerial threat in the top flight. For someone who stands at around 5ft 7inch, he scores a lot more headers than he has any right to.

Like Salah, Mane’s Anfield contract also culminates in the summer of 2023.

He deserves the same incessant clamour from supporters to have his future tied down.

Rampant form

The former Southampton forward moved on to seven goals in the Premier League this term. Only Salah has more and Leicester’s Jame Vardy can match the tally.

After beginning the campaign somewhat out of sorts, Mane’s recaptured his rampant form of the previous few years.

When Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 and the league a year later, Mane was just as an important cog as Salah.

Granted, Salah might have propelled himself to the next level - a level that only has space for a solitary player.

World class

But Mane is world class in his own right.

Since arriving on Merseyside in 2016, he’s plundered 106 goals in 234 games. That’s an outstanding record and his fee of £34 million has proven a bargain.

But if Liverpool aren’t careful, they risk losing him like Salah.

He’s been linked with Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG in the past - and rightly so. He’d improve any team.

The fact Mane turns 30 in April may mean it’s why Fenway Sports Group haven’t accelerated talks. They don’t like handing out long-term deals to players who’re on the wrong side of that age and that’s what the former Red Bull Salzburg winger will want.

However, could Liverpool afford to lose him, especially to a rival on either the domestic or European stage?

Negotiations with Salah will be the priority. That’s understandable.

But it was sporting direcot Michael Edwards who spearheaded Mane’s switch to Liverpool.

Now before his departure at the end of the season, Edwards has to ensure the Reds retain Mane for longer.