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Egyptian sports minister Ashraf Sobhi has claimed that Mohamed Salah is keen to sign a new deal with Liverpool despite his ongoing contract standoff with the club.
The 29-year-old has his contract with the Reds expiring at the end of the 2022-23 season. Jurgen Klopp's side are determined to tie the forward down to a new deal, but talks have proved to be unsuccessful so far.
Salah has thus been linked with a move away from the Merseyside-based club recently. However, his agent Ramy Abbas Issa reportedly remains in negotiations with Liverpool over a new contract.
Sobhi has now revealed that he advised the former AS Roma forward to leave the Reds amidst his contract standoff. The Egyptian sports minister, though, admitted that the player prefers to continue at Anfield. He told Egyptian radio [via The Metro]:
"I met with Mohamed Salah at the airport after the end of the Senegal match and the failure to reach the World Cup finals [last week] and said to him to forget what happened and focus on what’s next. 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."
Sobhi is also of the view that there is a campaign against the Egypt international. He said:
"There are campaigns against Salah directed by some to bring him down, but I asked him not to pay attention to them."
There have been suggestions this week that the Egypt captain is close to agreeing a new deal with Liverpool. However, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano rubbished those claims on Monday.
The former Basel forward has scored 28 goals and provided 10 assists from 37 appearances across all competitions for Klopp's side.
Liverpool superstar Salah suffer World Cup heartbreak
The 29-year-old suffered a major heartbreak with the Egypt national team last week. The Pharaohs failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup after losing to Senegal on penalties, with the Reds superstar among those who missed a spot-kick.
The World Cup heartbreak comes less than two months following Egypt's Africa Cup of Nations disappointment in Cameroon. The Pharaohs, like last week, lost to Senegal on penalties in the final of the tournament.
It is worth noting that Salah did not take a penalty against Senegal in the AFCON final. The forward, though, went first against the African champions last week, but failed to hit the target.
The Egyptian was blinded by lasers pointed into his eyes by Senegal fans as he took his penalty. He also had to be escorted off the pitch following the game as opposition supporters threw objects at him.
