Paul Merson has ‘lost the plot’ with latest Mohamed Salah claim at Liverpool
Mohamed Salah will not be looking back on Liverpool’s Community Shield loss anytime soon.
The Egyptian winger struggled in the contest against Crystal Palace, while new Anfield addition Hugo Ekitike shone at Wembley.
The 33-year-old was one of the best players in world football last season, and he will be looking to get back to form against Bournemouth in the Premier League opener on Friday.
Salah has a brilliant record for Liverpool on the opening day, and he will be hoping to extend that against the Cherries, and prove any doubters wrong in the process.
Paul Merson makes outrageous Salah claim at Liverpool
Salah agreed a contract extension at Liverpool, keeping him on Merseyside until at least 2027 with a salary of around £400,000-a-week.
Paul Merson, who famously predicted that none of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold or Salah would end up staying, made a ludicrous claim about the Egypt star.
The ex-Arsenal man believes that the Reds will regret giving him such a huge amount in the extension after his performance against Palace on 10 August.
Speaking in his weekly predictions column for Sportskeeda (14 August), he said: “I don’t see Mohamed Salah justifying the £300,000 or £400,000 per week salary at Anfield this season.
“He barely touched the ball in the loss at Wembley.
“I’m not sure it’ll work for him with Jeremie Frimpong, who also likes to play more like a right winger.”
Liverpool fans will laugh at Merson once again
Merson is constantly coming out with strange claims that leave supporters baffled, especially when it comes to the Reds.
His claim that none of the contract trio would sign was a particularly bad one, and proves that he does not have a clue.
However, his latest one may be the worst howler of them all, as you cannot judge a world-class player like Salah off a glorified pre-season friendly, especially after his goal return last season.
| Stats | Salah |
| Matches | 52 |
| Goals | 34 |
| Assists | 23 |
The part about Frimpong is particularly bizarre, as they have shown that they can work together in pre-season, and if anything, it could hand Salah more space to operate in, with the Dutchman overlapping to take defenders away.
If he struggles to score in the Premier League and Champions League, when it matters, then it may be a fair assessment, but there is no evidence to suggest that he will right now.
Merson is probably just hoping that Salah performs like Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did when they signed bumper contracts with his beloved Gunners when they were ageing.
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