Egypt Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhi has claimed Mohamed Salah is keen to extend his stay at Liverpool despite his request the Reds forward gets a new team.
The 29-year-old is yet to renew his contract with the Reds but his agent is currently negotiating with the club to have him stay at Anfield, with a big-money four-year deal rumoured to be on offer.
Sobhi has revealed he personally told Salah, whose deal at the club is set to expire in 2023, to leave Liverpool after Egypt’s defeat to Senegal in their 2022 World Cup play-off.
“I met with Mohamed Salah at the airport after the end of the Senegal match and the failure to reach the World Cup finals and said to him to forget what happened and focus on what’s next,” Sobhi told Egyptian radio on Monday as quoted by The Metro.
“I have advised him to continue his journey at a club other than Liverpool, but his direction now is to renew his contract with Liverpool.
"There are campaigns against Salah directed by some to bring him down, but I asked him not to pay attention to them.”
Ahead of Liverpool's Champions League away clash against Benfica on Tuesday, manager Jurgen Klopp said Salah’s representatives are currently locked in negotiations with the club regarding his contract.
“I am happy because there is nothing new to say, it is good. The decisive parties are talking to each other and that is all I need,” Klopp told reporters.
On Salah’s form, which has seen him not score from open play since the 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Norwich City, Klopp said: “He [Salah] might not have scored in open play, I don’t know that is not important, for me his performance level is important, how he brings players together, when he gets the ball two or three players come to him, he could make better decisions but it is a tough gig, Africa for him and Sadio [Mane], but it is completely normal in a season.
“We see him every day in training and it is nothing to worry about. These players will not come to me and ask for a break so I have to pick the moment.”
While Salah has so far in this season managed 20 Premier League goals from 28 appearances, he has also notched eight goals in the Champions League campaign.