John Barnes tells Liverpool to take Mohamed Salah transfer gamble after Leroy Sane links
John Barnes is far from convinced after reports suggested that his former club Liverpool could be target Bayern Munich's Leroy Sane to replace Mohamed Salah
John Barnes is not convinced after recent reports linked Leroy Sane with Liverpool. Instead, the Reds legend would prefer to keep hold of Mohamed Salah until his contract runs out in 2025.
Sane was thrown into the transfer discussion as a result of persistent links of Salah to the Saudi Pro League. A counter offer is mooted for future windows after the Reds rejected a £150m bid on deadline day for the Egyptian from Al-Ittihad. Now it has been said the money would be used to offer Bayern Munich a club-record fee for the German.
The ECHO understands it would be an irregular move for the club given Sane's age - he is 28, in January - does not fit the profile of regular targets. Barnes concurs with this stance. The former England international, who scored 108 goals and created 101 more in 408 appearances at Anfield, told BonusCodeBets.co.uk he would sooner risk losing Liverpool's fifth all-time top scorer for free.
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"We’ve got Mo Salah so until Mo Salah leaves and his contract isn’t up for another two years or so we don’t need to think about that," stated Barnes. "I expect Mo Salah to be here for the next two years. Sane may not be the player he is now for two years."
The Reds' No.11 extended his deal on Merseyside in summer 2022, committing his future until 2025. But n- one foretold the rise of the Saudi Pro League and the riches they have to offer, as it was claimed they will stop at nothing to tempt a sale.
Sitting 18th on the club's all-time top scorers list himself, Barnes certainly has some credit in the bank with regards to singling out which attackers can be successful at Liverpool Ultimately he downplayed the Sane links, labelling them as pure speculation similar to those hinting Kylian Mbappe could yet end up a Red.
"Sane is a good player but Mbappe is a good player," the 59-year-old continued. "Him joining Liverpool would be great too but it’s just pure speculation. Salah has two more years at Liverpool and long may that last."
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