Liverpool must pay Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane what they want

Karan Tejwani

• 28 Apr 2022 12:37 BST
• 3 min read

Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are still going strong for the Reds, and in a season that sees them pushing for a historic quadruple, they are as important as ever.

The club’s Champions League run has proven how good the two have been, and their form this season has shown why it’s worth persisting with the two in the long run.

Salah is currently 29, while Mane only turned 30 earlier this month, and that has raised doubts over their long-term future and value to the squad.

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How good have Salah and Mane been for Liverpool?

However, their output over the last few months has debunked any of those questions: Salah has scored 30 goals and provided 14 assists, while Mane has scored 20 goals and provided three assists.

Salah made an excellent start to the season, but his form slacked a bit in the middle, and that’s shown the importance of Mane, who has stepped up in the month of April, scoring crucial goals against Manchester City and most recently, in the first-leg of the Champions League semi-final against Villarreal.

Both players’ contracts expire in 2023, and considering their age, there have been doubts over whether they can continue proving their quality.

However, it does seem to be worth persisting with them – their consistency over the last few years under Jurgen Klopp has been excellent, and seeing how players have proven to continue playing well past the age of 30 in recent years, there is viable evidence this may not be as big a risk as it may seem.

Recent times have seen the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Ciro Immobile as well as the obvious Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo prove their worth after 30, and with quality like Salah and Mane, it can be done here once again.

Additionally, this season has shown how rotation helps as the addition of Luis Diaz in the middle of the season boosted Liverpool’s attack significantly.

They now have Diaz, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino to support the leading two and having that much strength in depth can only be good for them.

Liverpool have shaped their attacking line well, and Klopp has managed to get the best out of Salah and Mane; if it’s worked out well for this long, a manager like Klopp can continue it for a little longer – there’s risk involved, but it makes sense to continue pushing with the trusted duo for a few more years.