Premier League title ´first´ on Salah´s list for ´last year´ at Liverpool

Mohamed Salah is making the Premier League title his top priority as his Liverpool contract continues to wind down.

Salah, like team-mates Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, is set to become a free agent at the end of the season.

The Liverpool superstar has repeatedly outlined his desire to stay at Anfield, but a new deal is yet to be agreed, and Salah continues to refer to this as his “last year” with the club.

That is part of the reason he is so desperate to deliver domestic glory, with Liverpool’s only previous title triumph in the Premier League era marred by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Reds raced away in top spot in 2019-20, but the season was paused before they could clinch the title and resumed in empty stadiums.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United, where a full and raucous Anfield will be roaring Liverpool on, Salah explained his reasons for focusing on the Premier League even over the Champions League this year.

“The first thing that was on the list was to win the Premier League with Liverpool,” he told Sky Sports.

“In my interviews over the last seven or eight years, I always say Champions League, but this is the first time I’m saying I really want to win the Premier League with Liverpool.

“It’s probably because we didn’t celebrate the one we won in the way we wanted and also, coming back here too, it’s my last year in the club so you want to do something special for the city. That was the thing in my head.

“We waited for that title for 30 years or so. So, to win it and it was the pandemic at that time, we didn’t really have time to celebrate it in the right way. It’s not a nice thing to do, so hopefully we can do it this year.”

Liverpool are six points clear of second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand, and nobody has done more than Salah to put Arne Slot’s side in that position.

He already has 17 goals and 13 assists, both scoring and assisting in eight different matches, a single-season Premier League record.

Salah’s uncertain future would provide an obvious excuse for faltering form, but his contract impasse is instead a motivating factor.

He said: “The thing in my head is that if this is the last six months, what do you want to see in the future?

“Do you want to look back and say I was concerned or stressed about the contract? Or do you just want to say I had an unbelievable season? That’s what is in my head.

“If I ever feel distraction, I just remind myself I want to look back and say I had an unbelievable season. That’s what I want to do.”