Mohamed Salah's new deal promises exciting era at Liverpool


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Mohamed Salah has a point to prove. So does Jurgen Klopp. The Egyptian’s three-year contract extension at Anfield gives both men a significantly better chance of hitting their targets next season.

In May, Liverpool emerged from a remarkable campaign after enduring a disappointing climax to the season. Despite winning both domestic cups, they were unable to catch Manchester City in the Premier League title race and lost the Champions League final 1-0 to Real Madrid on a fraught night in Paris.

After that defeat, Jurgen Klopp radiated defiance and ambition. The German told fans to book their hotels in Istanbul, the site of European football’s showpiece game in 2023. It was a bold statement of intent.

The Liverpool manager has many strengths but among his greatest attributes is his ability to inspire belief in players and supporters. The question that hung over Anfield was how the uncertainty over Salah’s future would affect the mood at the club. That doubt has been swept away with the 30-year-old’s new deal.

The headline numbers about Salah’s pay rise are eye-watering: £400,000 per week makes him the biggest earner in the Premier League. This figure is a little misleading. The basic salary is nearer £300,000 and the contract is heavy with incentives. To maximise his earning power, Salah needs to score plenty of goals and win the biggest trophies. That is exactly what Klopp wants.

Last season the forward hit the back of the net 31 times but there was a perception that he did not recapture his best form after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations in February. Those suggestions stung, as did Salah’s failure to score in three finals. Paris was particularly disappointing, although Thibaut Courtois’s man-of-the-match performance for Real defined the game rather than sloppy finishing by Salah.

Liverpool v Real Madrid player ratings

Fenway Sports Group thought long and hard about the merits of giving Salah an extension. The Americans do not like betting big money on players in their 30s. Yet the danger of allowing the striker to run down his contract and leave on a free transfer next summer threw up a number of nightmare possibilities.

The first half of the new season would have been overshadowed by speculation about the Liverpool talisman’s future. Come January, he would have been able to agree a deal with a new club. In the worst-case scenario, this could have been a Premier League rival. No one at Anfield fancied seeing a motivated Salah wearing a Chelsea or Manchester City shirt.

There is an element of risk in handing a 30-year-old an extra three years. Salah’s legs will be tested, particularly in the first half of the season when Liverpool will play on average every 3.7 days – and that is budgeting for just one League Cup tie. Klopp has options up front despite the departure of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich. The addition of Darwin Nunez from Benfica will help fill the vacuum left by the Senegalese but regardless of the manager’s ability to rotate the front three, the burden of goalscoring will likely fall on Salah.

That is something he will relish. In his five years on Merseyside, Salah has notched 156 times. That places him ninth on the list of prolific Liverpool strikers but the more telling statistic is the Egyptian’s strike-rate. His goals-to-minutes ratio is the best in the club’s history.

It sometimes seems that other members of Klopp’s side – Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and even Mane – get more love than Salah. Yet the modern era of success at Anfield has been predicated on the forward’s goals. For Klopp to achieve his aims over the coming seasons, the German will need his primary goalscorer to keep hitting the heights.

Expect Salah to start the season fast. He will get a break during the World Cup because Egypt did not qualify and should resume the campaign in December after benefiting from a month of rest. He will regret missing out on Qatar but his absence will work in Liverpool’s favour.

Klopp has his weapon of choice for the next three years and Salah is as ambitious as his manager. Exciting times lie ahead for the Kop.

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

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The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet

Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder

Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm

Transmission: Nine-speed automatic

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km

Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday

Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

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Director: Hansal Mehta

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About Housecall

Date started: July 2020

Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: HealthTech

# of staff: 10

Funding to date: Self-funded

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia

When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start

Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1

Tickets: Admission is free

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle

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The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

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Updated: July 05, 2022, 10:48 AM`