Phil Thompson: Why Mohamed Salah Liverpool transfer exit wouldn’t surprise me

Mo Salah’s Liverpool future has been put into doubt in recent weeks after admitting he was annoyed at not being made captain recently.

I’ve done a little bit of digging, a little bit of reading. I know the quotes that were mentioned and it was by a legendary Egyptian player or sportsman.

The actual words were put into context over here and it wasn’t exactly as they come across in the press. Yes, he was disappointed about not getting the captaincy and that can happen.

When you see a 22-year-old like Trent get the captaincy you may think ‘Oh, you know, I could have got it’. That can happen, but I think it was done with a reason for Trent, being a local boy. It could help the fan base.

In terms of him leaving, it doesn’t surprise me.

Anybody could leave or they will want to leave. We’ve seen it with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United. We saw it with Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez here at Liverpool.

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I don’t think Real Madrid and Barcelona are the pull that they were a couple of years ago. They’re still a big name but not like they were.

This time last year Sadio Mane was ripping it up and we had the same issue.

I’m not daft enough to say everything will be rosy and he won’t go – these things happen in football.

It could be a goer, but I think the way Liverpool are progressing with the recruitment they seem to be a step ahead now. For Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino, I would think you look at them and they’re happy.

Jurgen knows how to get the most out of them. I think Liverpool will take it all in their stride. So I don’t think there’s any great worry at this moment for Liverpool fans.

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While we’re talking about transfers, Thiago’s return is like a new signing for Jurgen.

With Fabinho playing at centre-back, it frees up that holding role for Thiago. He can go and dictate play but it does depend on how many games it takes for him to get going again.

Nowadays, players are given more time to get back to full fitness.

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