Mohamed Salah’s future is in Liverpool’s hands, as fresh transfer strategy creates advantage

If you think back to when Philippe Coutinho was at the club, things could not have been more different. Here was a player at the peak of his powers, but felt that Anfield was not the right place for him to fulfil his talent.

Now that’s fine, it has always been the case in football that player’s abilities soon become noticed by a club that arguably has a greater standing in the world’s game. In the case of Coutinho, he felt that moving on to Barcelona was a step up in his career, and it just goes to show that it doesn’t always work out the way you think.

You could even look at Emre Can, who departed Liverpool just a few months after Coutinho. Again, it was a case that a player’s demands took control, and left the club with no choice but to part ways.

Since then, though, things have changed drastically, and not just with results on the pitch. Yes, Liverpool have gone on to win football’s biggest prizes and scoop some of the most prestigious individual honours, to only solidify their place as one of biggest clubs in the world yet again.

You never seem to hear that a player has become unsettled at Liverpool any more. No longer do you get rumours appearing in the papers suggesting that one of the squad’s key men has a desire to leave Anfield and go on to pastures new.

Once again, this is not an accident but by design. Klopp has built a place where every player in world football wants to stay and live out their prime years in the sport, which was far from the case before he came to the club in 2015.

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A player whose future has been in the news of late is Mohamed Salah. There seems to be a suggestion he may in fact be unhappy at Liverpool, and is itching to leave for one of Spanish football’s giants.

While only Salah himself will truly know whether he does want to leave, there is no suggestion from his own camp with his agent that is the case. When a player truly wants to leave, it is pretty much well known with regular reports in the press.

With Salah, these sorts of rumours just seem to be out of hope from the neutrals that he leaves, rather than it be the true desire of the player himself. Welcome to the transfer window, as they say.

That will be the case for Salah and every other player at the club, no matter how important they are to the first-team or how little game time they are getting on the pitch. That, as well as the trophy haul, is the mark of how Klopp has changed Liverpool.

Michael Edwards and Mike Gordon deserve a lot of the credit, too. Between the pair, along with Klopp, they always make sure that Liverpool always get the better end of any deal. Whether that’s a new signing arriving for what turns out to be a bargain, or someone leaving for a fee that is probably more than what their market value is worth.

No longer do you have to worry about a player becoming unsettled because life at Anfield is no longer meeting their standards. Liverpool set their own standards, and every player who comes to the club now will feel that they have reached the pinnacle of their career, and will no longer disrupt the harmony in the squad by looking for a move away.

Should a player decide they do want a new challenge, then Edwards and co. will set the terms. If they cannot find a buyer who’s willing to meet their asking price, then a deal will unlikely be completed until the other club complies. That is the power that Liverpool have in the transfer market, and is a significant reason behind their recent triumphs.