KEY POINTS

  • Mo Salah is contracted with Liverpool until 2023
  • Barcelona have made Salah an alternative for Haaland
  • Salah has already netted 28 goals this season

Liverpool FC forward Mohamed Salah is being linked with a move to FC Barcelona in the 2022 summer.

Barcelona have made Salah their top target if they fail to sign Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, reported Spanish publication AS Diario. The report has further claimed that Salah is open to moving to Camp Nou ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Salah, the first superstar of the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool, is contracted with the club until 2023. He turned down a contract extension last December as the Reds failed to fulfill his wish of making him the highest-paid player of the club. Liverpool are known to have a strict wage structure.

However, Liverpool are expected to make an exception for Salah and offer him a lucrative contract amid interest from several other clubs, according to The Athletic. Apart from Barcelona, the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are all eyeing the signatures of Anfield's decorated goal machine.

Joan Laporte, Barcelona's president, is believed to have promised head coach Xavi Hernandez that the Catalan club will sign a "top" forward in the upcoming summer window.

While Haaland is the future, Salah still has good two-three years of top soccer left in him. The "Egyptian King" is in terrific form in the 2021-22 season, having netted 28 goals and 10 assists in 35 competitive appearances for Liverpool. Out of the 28 goals, 20 have come in the Premier League. Salah is the leading goal scorer in the league. He has scored eight goals more than joint-second placed players Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota.

Liverpool are once again in the title race, along with arch-rivals Manchester City. Klopp's side has won eight straight games in the league. A win in the upcoming game against Arsenal would put Liverpool just a point behind leaders City. Klopp has built a world-class side in the last few years and Salah is undoubtedly a vital part of his system.

Mohamed Salah is Liverpool's leading goalscorer this season
Mohamed Salah is Liverpool's leading goalscorer this season AFP / Paul ELLIS

Salah, who moved from Roma to Liverpool in the summer of 2017, has netted 153 goals and 57 assists in 238 matches. He is already the ninth leading goal scorer in the history of Liverpool FC.

It was earlier reported that Salah missed Monday's training and could be in a race against time to be fit for Liverpool's upcoming league game at Arsenal.

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