When news broke in the summer that Saudi football side Al Ittihad were chasing Mohamed Salah, but had been turned down, there was considerable sympathy for the player.
Here was a footballer, a true superstar, 31 years old at what might be the start of the down slope of his career, who was being denied the chance by his club to rake in mega-millions. He had given Liverpool years of extraordinary service; few would quibble if he felt the need to move on and cash in.
Reports suggested that the striker was to be paid £1.5 million a week by Al Ittihad, enabling him to join Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar as the poster boys of the Saudi Pro League. Liverpool were to receive £100m straight away, with another potential £50m coming in add-ons. Still, the English team refused; Salah was theirs and he was going nowhere.
In Liverpool’s start to this season, Salah has been outstanding, playing six matches (before Saturday's game against Spurs), scoring three goals and making four assists. That compares with 38 league games in 2022-23, in which he netted 19 times and made 12 assists. His best season for goals was in 2017-18, when he played 36 and scored 32.
It's the other statistic that has got the commentators purring and the fans cheering. Once a player renowned, perhaps unfairly, for going for goal and missing, when he could have passed, Salah has become more generous. His rate of assists has risen. So much so that if he keeps it up, this season he could make over 20 goals for others. This, in addition to those he scores himself.
In essence, Salah has become more of an all-rounder, which means he is extremely precious indeed. Which is why it should come as no surprise that this rarity of a sportsman is earning at least £1m a week while at Liverpool. Contrast that with the first professional contract he agreed to as a 13-year-old at Al Mokawloon in Cairo, which paid him a monthly salary of 125 Egyptian pounds or around £3.
His added value explains as well why Liverpool were so reluctant to sell him, even for £150m. They could have used that cash to buy two strikers for £75m each – at that price, the new buys would be good. But what the figures are increasingly saying is that there is only one Mo Salah - a player who not only scores but makes telling passes - and currently, he is irreplaceable.
News of his weekly package was revealed by Salah’s lawyer and advisor, Ramy Abbas Issa, in a Harvard Business School report seen by The Guardian. That £1m-a-week is, says Abbas, a “conservative” sum.
The study forms part of Harvard’s entertainment, media and sports programme, run by Professor Anita Elberse. She focused on the Salah transfer negotiations leading to the signing of his new contract with Liverpool in July 2022 (it runs until 2025) with a student, Taher El Moataz Bellah. Uniquely, Abbas and Salah agreed to co-operate.
Abbas is himself a stand-out, as an adviser to a footballing icon who is not an immediate member of the player’s family and does not have other clients (presumably, Abbas’s percentage of Salah’s remuneration renders that unnecessary).
They met by chance in 2015 when Salah was at Chelsea and Abbas, who was born in Colombia but grew up in the UAE, belonged to a team looking after Juan Cuadrado, the Colombia winger and Salah’s teammate. “Ramy was there with Cuadrado, I remember we met and he spoke to me in Arabic,” Salah says. “I didn’t get it at first – a Colombian speaking Arabic? So, we started having a conversation.”
It resulted in Abbas giving Salah advice on his loan move from Chelsea to Fiorentina and their relationship blossomed from there.
They took part in the Harvard discussion as if the negotiations were continuing, speaking in the present tense. They end with a phone call in June 2022 between Abbas and Salah, before the former made a final, make-or-break counteroffer to Liverpool. Abbas was in Dubai; Salah on holiday in El Gouna, the Egyptian Red Sea resort.
Says Abbas: “If we find a way to get Liverpool to agree to the salary we have in mind and if Mohamed performs at a level he has achieved in the past seasons…”
He adds: “We conservatively expect the total amount received by Mohamed and the image rights companies over the next few years from both his playing contract and his image rights contracts to be somewhere between €54m [£46.8m] and €62m [£53.7m] per year.”
How much, exactly, Liverpool are rewarding the player is not revealed. But Abbas says: “Now, Mohamed’s endorsements are [each] in the €4m [£3.5m] to €7m [£6.1m] range – him joining Liverpool was a game-changer.”
At present, he has commercial ties with the likes of Adidas, Bank of Alexandria, PepsiCo, Gucci and Mountain View. Taking Abbas’s words at face value, Salah is collecting around £25m a year on top of his Liverpool wages.
That would see Liverpool paying him £25m a year or £500,000 a week. It is an eye-watering amount, possibly making him the highest-paid player in the Premiership (only Erling Haaland of Manchester City is likely to be at that level). But the Harvard study makes clear how what Salah receives from Liverpool is broken down, between his guaranteed or fixed pay and his variable or performance-related pay.
Significantly, in the new deal, Liverpool wanted that latter category to represent a higher proportion of his overall package. Abbas used their wish to push up his total worth. “I realise that this would make Mohamed’s contract the highest value contract in the history of Liverpool but he is worth it.”
Abbas adds that “certain team performance bonuses Mohamed receives should be, as Liverpool would prefer, dependent on him scoring a certain number of goals or providing a certain number of assists”.
It leaves Salah as one of the richest players in world football, behind Ronaldo but alongside Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Haaland and Harry Kane in the uppermost tier.
Liverpool also got what they wanted: a player who not only scores goals but makes assists. Everyone is happy. Except of course, the Saudis, who could yet return with a higher bid when the next transfer window opens. They may go up to £200m, and Liverpool may succumb. For now, though, Salah is staying put, and scoring and passing.
Chris Blackhurst is the author of The World’s Biggest Cash Machine – Manchester United, the Glazers, and the struggle for football’s soul, to be published by Macmillan on October 26, 2023.
UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Chirag Suri , Zahoor Khan
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E666hp%20at%206%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E850Nm%20at%202%2C300-4%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQ1%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh1.15%20million%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Healthy tips to remember
Here, Dr Mohamed El Abiary, paediatric consultant at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai, shares some advice for parents whose children are fasting during the holy month of Ramadan:
Gradual fasting and golden points - For children under the age of 10, follow a step-by-step approach to fasting and don't push them beyond their limits. Start with a few hours fasting a day and increase it to a half fast and full fast when the child is ready. Every individual's ability varies as per the age and personal readiness. You could introduce a points system that awards the child and offers them encouragement when they make progress with the amount of hours they fast
Why fast? - Explain to your child why they are fasting. By shedding light on the importance of abstaining from food and drink, children may feel more encouraged to give it there all during the observance period. It is also a good opportunity to teach children about controlling urges, doing good for others and instilling healthy food habits
Sleep and suhoor - A child needs adequate sleep every night - at least eight hours. Make sure to set a routine early bedtime so he/she has sufficient time to wake up for suhoor, which is an essential meal at the beginning of the day
Good diet - Nutritious food is crucial to ensuring a healthy Ramadan for children. They must refrain from eating too much junk food as well as canned goods and snacks and drinks high in sugar. Foods that are rich in nutrients, vitamins and proteins, like fruits, fresh meats and vegetables, make for a good balanced diet
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 3
Fleck 19, Mousset 52, McBurnie 90
Manchester United 3
Williams 72, Greenwood 77, Rashford 79
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
