Ferdinand suggests Ronaldo’s PL return could affect Salah’s contract talks with Liverpool
Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the Premier League could encourage Mo Salah and his entourage to press for a bigger pay bump from Liverpool.
According to the Mirror, the Portuguese international is earning roughly £500,000-per-week at Old Trafford; a similar figure to that which the same publication had claimed the Egyptian was requesting.
“If you’re seeing Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold all signing new deals and you weren’t the first one they pulled in to sign one, does that affect your mentality?” the former centre-half told BT Sport (via the Metro).
“All these guys have signed new deals and he’s as important as them, if not more.
“If you’re his agent or him, and you see Cristiano Ronaldo coming to the Premier League and what he’s earning, you want to be around that ballpark.
“What he’s done in the Premier League has been relentless… top of the charts. He must be looking at people like Aubameyang and think he needs to be above that. I need to be around these guys.
“These things are difficult, it’s complex and there’s a lot riding on it. But he’s a fabulous player so you have to keep him at Anfield.”
The £500,000-per-week claim has since been debunked by another reliable outlet in the Echo, with it remaining unclear what exact number has been put forth by the 29-year-old’s camp.
READ MORE: Michael Owen raises concern with ‘complicated’ Mo Salah contract talks
Whilst an argument could certainly be made that Salah is more than deserving of the kind of wage packet claimed by Ronaldo week in week out, we’d doubt that the club would be prepared to fork such an amount out.
More to the point, we’d be surprised if the No.11 is even requesting a number close to that stated figure.
Whether the ordering of contract renewals has genuinely affected the player’s “mentality”, as Ferdinand has suggested is possible, is entirely up for debate.
Given the level of performances that we have been treated to already this term, we’d to question whether that is indeed the case, of course.
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