Mohamed Salah, shirt swinging above his head, knew he had done it again. Just like in 2019 when he raced towards the Liverpool fans at St Mary’s, it was the Egyptian who made the decisive contribution.
It is no exaggeration to suggest that his brace could be looked back on in May as a turning point for Liverpool. If the Reds can move 11 points clear of Manchester City by beating Pep Guardiola’s men at Anfield next Sunday, it will be in part because of this result.
Racing clear of Manchester City before playing Everton in December, Leicester City on Boxing Day and Manchester United at home early in the New Year? It’s 2019/20 again and Liverpool will be more than happy to run that season back — ideally this time without a global pandemic.
Salah now has 12 goals in all competitions this season. He is, once again, on course to get 30-plus across the course of the year and that is before adding in his assists too — he is already in double figures for teeing up his teammates, showing himself as an elite playmaker as well goalscorer.
It is an obvious point but only because it is repeated every week: in almost every game, Salah makes a decisive impact that makes his contract even more of a pressing matter. Can Liverpool continue to afford to pay someone of his age the biggest contract anyone has ever earned at Anfield? Increasingly, the argument should be whether it can afford not to.
The potentially iconic images of Salah celebrating his winner at Southampton paint the picture of a player desperate to stay. All the signs point to him being happy on Merseyside and the smile plastered across his face would appear to back that up.
The question now is whether or not an agreement can be reached with his representatives — ideally before January 1. At that point, clubs abroad can enter the fray. And when Salah is in this form, who wouldn’t be interested?
For Liverpool, keeping the man who would instantly become the game’s most coveted free agent is a no-brainer. “Everyone knows Mo,” Dominik Szoboszlai told the BBC at the final whistle. “He just has to keep going and I hope I play with him for as long as I can.”
At this point in the season, everything is going well for Liverpool. Harvey Elliott has been absent for the last couple of months but he returned to the squad here — and Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Federico Chiesa shouldn’t be far behind.
On the pitch, Salah and his Liverpool teammates keep providing the boosts. Off it, tying him, Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk down to extensions would further increase the ever-expanding feel good factor. Judging by Salah’s reaction to his winning goal, he wouldn’t mind scoring a few more like that in the coming seasons.
