Former Liverpool player Didi Hamann has responded to Gary Neville's claim that Mohamed Salah ‘played’ Liverpool during contract negotiations.
Salah put pen to paper on a lucrative new deal worth £350,000 a week on Friday, tying him down at Anfield until the summer of 2025.
The Egypt international’s deal was set to expire in the next 12 months, but the Merseyside club opted to keep him and disrupt their previously stringent wage structure.
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Shortly after the contract was announced on Friday evening, former Manchester United defender and now Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville took to Twitter to aim a dig at the Reds regarding the situation.
He tweeted: “He’s (Salah) played them hasn’t he,” followed by a series of laughing emojis.
Neville has received plenty of backlash for this take on the news and now Hamann has become the latest to call out the claim.
“Played them by scoring 30+ goals every season,” tweeted the ex-Liverpool midfielder, who was part of the Reds’ historic team that lifted the Champions League trophy in 2005.
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Indeed, Salah has found the back of the net at an exceptional rate since his move from Roma in 2017, scoring 156 goals in 254 appearances.
In his least prolific season, he still managed 23 goals in all competitions.
Last campaign, the 30-year-old won the Premier League golden boot alongside Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min, netting 23 times. This was the third time in his five year spell in England that he has achieved this accolade.
His excellent form in the North West has also led Liverpool to their most successful period in recent years, winning the Premier League title for the first time, as well as lifting the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.
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Salah’s new deal sees him committed to the next iteration of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
The signings of Darwin Nunez, Calvin Ramsay and Fabio Carvalho represent an attempt to lower the age profile of what is an ageing squad.
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Klopp is looking to rebuild his squad for the long-term, and it looks like Salah will be a part of that.
Topics: Liverpool, Mohamed Salah, Gary Neville
Alfie Culshaw