Paul Gascoigne gives bizarre take on Mohamed Salah and Liverpool in rare interview
England legend Paul Gascoigne believes Mohamed Salah "seems to be off the boil" so far this season, claiming the Reds star is trying to avoid injury
England legend Paul Gascoigne believes Mohamed Salah "seems to be off the boil" so far this season and has claimed the Liverpool star is playing to avoid injury ahead of end-of-season departure from Anfield.
The former Tottenham, Newcastle and Everton midfielder has also named Eden Hazard as a better player than Salah, who is the Reds' all-time leading scorer of the Premier League era with 161, a tally that places him inside the top 10 for any club across 32 years of the competition's history.
Salah has scored six times and created five assists for a Liverpool team who have won nine of Arne Slot's 10 games across all competitions and the Egypt captain will be expected to continue his important contributions when the Premier League leaders host Chelsea this weekend.
Despite what has been generally viewed as an excellent start to this campaign, Gascoigne somewhat bizarrely believes Salah is underperforming and might be trying to steer clear of getting an injury, citing an approach from Sir Kenny Dalglish in his own career as evidence for how top players can sometimes have their heads turned by the interest in them.
“Hazard [was better than Salah], he’s outstanding," Gascoigne told Sports Casting. "I love Hazard. What a player. But Salah, I don’t know what’s happening with him this season, he just seems off the boil.
“Is [the contract issue] what [the problem] is? That’s what happens with a lot of players. I remember 10 games into the season, I’d got a phone call from Kenny Dalglish at the end of the season saying, ‘I’m going to sign you.’ So you know they’re trying not to get injured.
"You get a lot of players who don’t want to get involved too much because they’ll be getting injuries. Look at me, in two days I’m going to Lazio and half an hour later I’m in the hospital with a ligament injury. He (Salah) seems to be off the boil. Hazard, great, quality player, he’s got quick feet and with the ball, shifting it from left to right. It’s incredible. I love Hazard.”
On Trent Alexander-Arnold's contract situation and reported interest from Real Madrid, Gascoigne added: “It’s really scary, you know.
"That’s what I mean in regards to respect, but when Steve (McManaman) went there I didn’t even know, I was just watching Real Madrid and Steve’s there. It’s like player power now.
"There was a time when there weren’t many English players playing abroad. When I went to Lazio, it was only me, Liam Brady went, and that was it really. [David] Platt went to Bari, [Paul] Ince went to Inter Milan. But, you know, you’ve got to be, you’ve got to be unbelievably talented to play when you go there.
“I mean, look at what Jude Bellingham’s done at Real Madrid. You see him play for England, I watched him and people were raving about him. He scored in the first game of the Euros and after that he’s non-existent. And then I saw him playing for Real Madrid and he was outstanding. I suppose when you put talented players around you like that…I mean, my favourite team,
"I just loved watching them every week, the Barcelona side when they had Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, the MSN. They were scary, that team. Crazy team. You just couldn’t get the ball off them. Even before that, Ronaldinho as well, when Messi was coming through. The team was just scary.”