Mohamed Salah will have just a year left on his £350,000-a-week Anfield contract this summer and Liverpool must either persuade him to agree new terms or sell him to the Saudi Pro-League

Liverpool may have to think the unthinkable and sell Mohamed Salah this summer.

On top of trying to lure Xabi Alonso to Anfield to replace Jurgen Klopp, new CEO of Football Michael Edwards must make a decision on Salah’s future.

Salah will have just a year left on his £350,000-a-week contract in the summer when he turns 32, and Liverpool must either persuade him to accept new terms or sell him before he can leave for nothing in 2025.

Liverpool are in a difficult bargaining position and while they were able to knock back Al-Ittihad’s £200million offer for Salah to join the Saudi Pro-League last year, they may not find it so easy when they return this summer.

The Saudi Pro-League is bankrolled by the Saudi state who are determined to improve their image by throwing billions at sport. Salah could pick up a reported tax-free £1.25million-a-week with Al-Ittihad and Liverpool cannot come close to competing with that.

The Saudis see Salah as their key man and as an Arab, from just across the Red Sea in Egypt, he would be the ideal figure to promote their league globally. It is inevitable that Salah will end up in the Pro-League and it is a natural home for him.

But he’s still at the peak of his powers and does not need to go for a few more years yet. Salah loves the adulation and glory that comes from starring in the Premier League and Champions League, the world’s two top club competitions.

That factor could help Liverpool as they attempt to tie him down to a new deal. But the bottom line for Liverpool is that they can survive without Salah. Yes, he needs just one more goal to become the first player in their storied history to score 20-plus goals in seven successive seasons, but they have shown they can thrive without him.

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Salah has not started a game for Liverpool since New Year’s Day, yet they have won 12 of their 15 games, drawing two and losing just once. They lifted the Carabao Cup for a record 10th time without him and they surmounted the psychological hurdle of winning trophies without him.

Liverpool have pondered replacements and rate West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, although he may have priced himself out of a move by signing a new contract. They like Wolves’ Pedro Neto and the Portugal attacker, whose contract runs until 2027, is a good age at 24. Liverpool have options should Salah go and their history shows they have still managed to be successful when key strikers have left.

They replaced Kevin Keegan with Kenny Dalglish in 1977, won the Champions League in 2005 the season after Michael Owen left and swapped Luis Suarez for Fernando Torres in 2011. No one is bigger than Liverpool, even Salah.