The former Reds midfielder admits top talents will always be in demand, but he is hoping to see an Egyptian superstar remain at Anfield
Talk of interest in Mohamed Salah from Barcelona comes as no surprise to John Barnes, with the Liverpool legend expecting “more offers” to be made for the Egyptian on the back of his remarkable consistency.
A 28-year-old forward has become a talismanic presence at Anfield through three productive campaigns.
Champions League, Club World Cup and Premier League crowns have been collected, along with two Golden Boots, a PFA Player of the Year award and countless other individual honours.
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The 2020-21 campaign has also been opened in style, with Salah netting a hat-trick in a 4-3 thriller with Leeds to get his season off to the perfect start.
It is efforts such as that which are sparking fresh rounds of transfer talk.
La Liga giants Barca are said to be keen on Salah, but they are far from being the only ones who would welcome a deal and Barnes believes admiring glances are to be expected.
The Liverpool great told BonusCodeBets: “Who knows what the chances are with players leaving?
“With big players and big clubs there is always lots of speculation. You can see why the link between Salah and Barcelona is there – modern footballers need to go to big clubs.
“I’d like to see him stay, but of course he’s part of the future of modern football.
“I don’t know what the likelihood of him going is, but if he keeps performing like he does for Liverpool then he’ll have yet more clubs interested in him and will be receiving more offers. That will create a predicament, because I’d like to see him stay.”
Despite all that he has achieved at Liverpool, including hitting 97 goals through 154 appearances and breaking a number of records, there have been suggestions that Salah is underappreciated by some on Merseyside.
Barnes does not fall into that category, with a man who spent 10 years at Anfield in his playing days adding: “Everybody loves Salah. He’s probably the most loved forward at the club.
“I love Roberto Firmino too, and maybe people like Sadio Mane, but Salah is the number one for most people. He’s not underappreciated at all.”
Defending champions Liverpool will be back in Premier League action on Sunday when they take in a trip to Salah’s former employers Chelsea.
