Mohamed Salah is set to sign a new two-year contract with Liverpool to end any doubts over his future at Anfield.
An agreement between Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and the 32-year-old striker has been reached after months of negotiations. Salah's agent, Rammy Abbas, has told the Reds they want a three-year deal. The Reds were previously said to be keen on keeping Salah for just one more year after his current deal expires.
As tensions continued, Salah publicly announced that this would be his last season at Anfield. Liverpool fans were worried and protested to put pressure on the Kop's board.
Finances are not necessarily the issue behind the delay in Salah's contract extension. In fact, the Egypt international is already Liverpool's highest-paid player, earning more than £400,000 a week.
Instead, the length of the contract is the issue. FSG does not want to offer long-term contracts to players over the age of 30. This is also the reason why Virgil van Dijk, 33, has not been able to extend his contract with Liverpool.
There is no sign of Salah's influence waning at Anfield, he remains the Premier League's top scorer.
In Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Newcastle, Salah set a record by scoring and assisting in 37 different league games, breaking Wayne Rooney's previous record of 36 games.
Barring any last-minute hiccups, Salah will sign a new two-year contract, which will be good news for manager Arne Slot as he realises how much Liverpool need Salah.
On the contrary, this would be a huge blow to the Saudi Pro League, with a number of clubs in the league having been plotting a move for the Egyptian star for years. Last summer, Liverpool rejected a £150m bid from Al-Ittihad for Salah.
The Egyptian is still Liverpool's number 1 star. He has scored 13 goals and contributed 8 assists in just 14 Premier League games this season. In total, Salah has scored 226 goals in 370 appearances for The Kop.
In addition to Salah, Liverpool are also working to sign new contracts with Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Both will expire at the end of this season. In particular, Alexander-Arnold is receiving attention from Real Madrid.
