Liverpool would consider an offer of £130 million ($168m) for Mohamed Salah, claims Jamie Carragher, with the Egyptian forward said to be “underappreciated” at Anfield despite the stunning numbers he posts.
The prolific 27-year-old netted 44 times in his debut season on Merseyside, before recording a further 27 efforts last term.
He is up to 19 across all competitions in the current campaign, having netted in Monday’s 3-2 win over West Ham, and continues to chip in with a healthy number of assists.
Carragher, though, believes that many would happily part with Salah for the right price, telling Sky Sports: “I think Mo Salah is seen as world-class by those on the outside but with Liverpool fans, I think he is a little bit underappreciated.
“Certainly going from that first season to what he is doing now, there has been a bit of a dip. But he was never going to score another 47 goals in a season.
“Speaking to Liverpool fans and looking at social media, I think Liverpool have got six world-class players. I think they have the goalkeeper, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Salah.
“I think if you asked Liverpool fans whether they would take big money for the other five, they would all say no, no matter what the money.
“There is no way they would sell Alisson or Van Dijk. But if you offered them £130m for Salah, they would think about it. That is why I say he is underappreciated.”
Lionel Messi is the only man to sit above Salah when it comes to goal involvements since the summer of 2017, but Liverpool are being linked with big-money moves for the likes of Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe and Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho.
“Salah is going to lose the ball but he is also going to score goals,” added Carragher.
“Salah gets a lot of assists too. Only Lionel Messi has more goals and assists than Salah in Europe’s top five leagues since he joined Liverpool.
“The big thing I like about him is that he is never injured. You see Liverpool play and he is there week in and week out. Ninety-seven appearances out of 102 (now 98 out of 103).
“If you look at minutes per goal, there might be others. But if I am a manager I want someone who is playing week in and week out, never misses a game and delivers.
“There is talk of Kylian Mbappe being the dream for Liverpool. Maybe that’s not realistic.
“There is also talk of Jadon Sancho. That probably is realistic for every top team in the Premier League. Mbappe is world-class, maybe the man to overtake Messi and Ronaldo. Sancho is on the verge of being world-class.
“But I think it would be so difficult for them, in their first two-and-a-half years at Liverpool, to get those numbers. That is why Liverpool need to be careful. Look at the numbers. Only Lionel Messi in European football is above this man.
“Liverpool need an attacking player to come in because Salah is maybe going to go to the Olympics and then the African Nations Cup, Mane the same, and bringing Divock Origi on in Madrid is not enough for the European champions.
“But no way in the world should they be even thinking about looking at moving this player on.”
