Joe Cole made an observation about Mo Salah after Liverpool’s 4-0 win over LASK on Thursday night which may leave some Reds fans a little concerned.
The Egyptian closed to within one goal of 200 for the club with an emphatically dispatched penalty early in the second half, taking his tally for the season to 13 (Transfermarkt).
However, one former LFC winger dubbed the 31-year-old ‘a poker player’ over the lack of emotion he tends to show in celebrating his goals, something into which pundits might attempt to read between the lines given the ongoing speculation over a possible big-money move to the Saudi Pro League in 2024 (ESPN).
Speaking on TNT Sports last night, Cole said of Salah: “He’s a bit of a poker player, isn’t he? You don’t know whether he’s happy. He could score a worldie and he doesn’t smile. He keeps his cards close to his chest.
“The future, the years are passing by for him because he’s already a Liverpool great, there’s no doubt about that. I think the key situation will be does he wants to stay and really take this team?
“I feel there’s years ahead of him. I think he is going to be another five, six or seven years playing because of that professionalism and fitness and he doesn’t look like he’s letting up. He is still breezing past players.”
It must be said that Salah didn’t look particularly poker-faced after dispatching his penalty last night, even if he’s sometimes been relatively muted with his celebrations of previous goals.
Given the ongoing Saudi transfer links, pundits may look for any body language cues which could even slightly hint at an element of dissatisfaction from the Liverpool attacker, which in turn might worry some fans about the possibility of an exit from Anfield over the next few months.
However, he certainly isn’t playing like someone who’s sulking and looking for a way out of the club, and you only need to look at his ongoing consistency in front of goal to see that he’s still performing at an extremely high level.
Like Cole says, the manner in which Salah looks after his body should ensure that he’ll continue to be a world-class operator well into his 30s, so hopefully the Egyptian King have another few years at Liverpool yet.
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