Salah reveals Liverpool future, Thiago may face Real Madrid

Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah has said he intends to play for the club next season despite having just one year left on his contract. The Egypt international remains in talks with Liverpool over a new deal, although reports suggest an agreement is not imminent.

Salah says he’s staying at Liverpool next season

Salah has scored 31 goals and recorded 15 assists in 50 appearances in all competitions this season, and some reports have linked him with a move at the end of this campaign in light of his contract situation.

However, speaking at a media conference ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid, Salah made clear he intends to remain at Anfield for at least one more year, telling reporters: “I am staying next season for sure.”

Salah has previously said he does not want to talk about his contract situation until the end of the season, and he reiterated that stance, adding: “In my mind, I don’t focus on the contract, I don’t want to be selfish. It’s about the time now, it’s an important week for us. I don’t want to talk about the contract.”

The 29-year-old was also asked about his motivation ahead of the clash with Madrid, having previously declared he wanted “revenge” following their 2018 meeting in the Champions League final that the Spanish giants won 3-1; Salah went off injured in the first half with a shoulder issue caused by former Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.

“I am very motivated,” he said. “After what happened with Madrid last time and also after what happened on Sunday, everybody is motivated to win the Champions League because this is an unbelievable trophy for us and every season we fight for it since I came here, and everyone wants to fight for it.”

Liverpool were denied the opportunity to continue their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple on Sunday when Manchester City’s comeback win against Aston Villa clinched the Premier League title ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s men.

While the players were disappointed, captain Jordan Henderson told reporters they are only looking forward now to Saturday.

“The mood’s good to be honest,” he said. “Training was very good today. I can see the excitement in them, ready for the weekend.

“Of course we’re disappointed on Sunday with the outcome, coming so close and then finding out what was happening in the other game. It was tough to take, but I couldn’t be more proud of the lads for the season and how we’ve competed in every single competition.

“We’ve given absolutely everything, played the maximum number of games that we could have played, won two trophies so far and got a big opportunity on Saturday to win another.

“It’s all positive here, really good morale in the camp, and we just can’t wait to get going again on Saturday and give absolutely everything one last time this season and try to get over the line to bring the Champions League trophy back to Liverpool.”

Thiago may be fit to face Real Madrid in UCL final

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has said Thiago Alcantara has a “good chance” of being fit for the Champions League final.

The Spain international hobbled off with an injury just before half-time during Liverpool’s 3-1 win against Wolves on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday, and was not seen in training on Wednesday. However, Klopp told reporters at a media conference that he was scheduled to do some training later that afternoon, and that he should feature in team training on Thursday.

“I only met him now inside. Good chance [he will make it],” Klopp said. “He will be training this afternoon, he did some stuff this morning. It was not planned he would be doing this session with players and in the moment it looks like he can be part of training tomorrow, which would be pretty helpful, and then we’ll go from there.

“It’s surprisingly good. After the game I was not positive about it but we got news that night it was not that bad... and now we will see.”

Klopp had already been boosted earlier in the day, with Fabinho and Joe Gomez back in training following injuries sustained in the recent win at Aston Villa. Saturday’s game will see Liverpool and Madrid meet again in the Champions League final, having done so in 2018 when Los Blancos won 3-1 in Kyiv, which included Mohamed Salah being forced off with a shoulder injury in the first half.

Klopp said his players are determined to win the game, but that this does not come from an idea of “revenge”, despite Salah saying he wanted it following the semi-final win against Villarreal.

“It was a harsh night for us, tough to take,” Klopp said. “We came there on three wheels a bit, players came back just in time for the final, we couldn’t replace Mo one for one.

“I don’t believe in revenge, but I understand it as well... I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do. For us, I understand what Mo said, he wants to put it right, I want to put it right.

“In Germany, we say ‘you always meet twice in life’, and that sounds more like a threat than it is. It just means behave better in the first moment, when you meet again you will get a better reception.

“It’s all fine between me, us and Real Madrid. It is a football game of the highest level, and whoever thinks it’s a good idea to give us an opportunity to win this time, I think it would be a great story but not because of what happened in 2018. It will just happen if we make the right decisions on the pitch and I hope we can do that.”