Paul Gascoigne has made an eye-opening claim about Mo Salah which’ll leave Liverpool fans scratching their heads in bewilderment.
The Egyptian King has had a typically prolific start to the 2024/25 season, with six goals and five assists in just 10 games for the Reds (Transfermarkt), but his future continues to be a major talking point as his current contract ends next June.
Gascoigne criticises ‘off the boil’ Salah
Addressing the age-old question as to whether or not Salah is superior to one-time Chelsea teammate Eden Hazard, Gascoigne told SportsCasting: “Hazard, he’s outstanding. 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.”
When it was mentioned to the former England star that the Liverpool forward will be out of contract in eight months’ time, he replied: “Is that what it is? Yeah, 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.’
“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.”
A bizarre take from Gascoigne
If Gascoigne doesn’t know what’s happening’ with Salah so far this season, he need only look at the second line of this article for the Liverpool legend’s scoring stats, with his overall tally for the Reds now standing at 217 goals, a figure bested by only four players in Anfield history.
As for the implication that the 32-year-old is ‘trying not to get injured’ because of his delicate contract situation, that strikes us as a grossly unfair criticism of the winger’s professionalism, especially when he’s jetting to Africa on international duty on top of a hectic fixture schedule at club level.
Apart from one strangely subdued display against Nottingham Forest – a game in which LFC as a whole were off-colour in a deserved defeat – our number 11 has upheld his usual world-class standards in the first two months of the campaign.
Thankfully, Salah has far too much experience and self-belief to be perturbed by Gascoigne’s baffling comments. The Egyptian King will let his on-field performances do the talking, and provided he doesn’t suffer any lengthy injury setbacks, it seems almost inevitable that he’ll blast through the 25-goal barrier again this season.
