Mohamed Salah's early return to Liverpool from Egypt national team duty suggests that he could be in line for a contract extension, Reds expert David Lynch has theorised.
The 32-year-old - who is still due to become a free agent at the end of the season - played and scored in the Pharaohs' 2-0 win over Mauritania on October 11 but went back to Merseyside before the return fixture on Tuesday.
Egypt allowed Salah to head back to Liverpool early due to concerns about a possible injury on the artificial playing surface, and the winger is therefore expected to be in tip-top condition for Sunday's blockbuster battle with Chelsea in the Premier League.
Salah has still not signed a contract extension at Liverpool, who could lose him for nothing next summer, but Lynch - speaking to Sports Mole - believes that the former Chelsea and Roma man is in with a better chance of penning fresh terms if he skips an inconsequential Egypt game every now and then.
"It's encouraging from that perspective, that he accepts that there are times when it is good to manage his minutes and not play every game," Lynch said when asked about Salah missing Egypt games highlighting his dedication to Liverpool.
"The comparison maybe is Cristiano Ronaldo who, don't get me wrong, unbelievable athlete, ridiculous commitment to get on the pitch as frequently as possible and scoring goals, but you do wonder at times whether that can come at the detriment of the player in terms of the long term and how often they can play at the top, top level for.
'Salah needs to be at elite level for new Liverpool contract'
"We have seen that slight decline in Ronaldo in recent years, and I think for Salah, if he's going to get this new contract at Liverpool and it's still going to be at the same wage, Liverpool need him to be performing as good as he has been over the last couple of years.
"Not playing a game where Egypt don't necessarily massively need him and there's a risk of injury is important, and I also think it's going to be if he's going to have to accept at times throughout this season that Liverpool are going to have to pull him in and out of the team sometimes.
"I think that is the best way to prolong his career and make sure he's playing at that elite level for as long as possible. So as long as he's on board with that - and I think this shows that he is partially on board with it - that bodes well in terms of his relationship with Liverpool and says something maybe about what's going to happen with his contract."
Salah was one of three Liverpool players to make early returns from international duty, the others being Virgil van Dijk and Curtis Jones, the former of whom would have been suspended for the Netherlands' clash with Germany after being sent off against Hungary.
Meanwhile, Jones was added to the England squad following the withdrawals of Kobbie Mainoo and Morgan Gibbs-White, although the 23-year-old was an unused substitute in the 2-1 loss to Greece before pulling out due to the birth of his child.
With Salah and Van Dijk both being allowed to leave the national team camp early, Lynch highlighted the good relations that the Reds share with national team FAs after a positive international period.
Lynch hails Michael Edwards work after early Salah, Van Dijk returns
© Imago
"One of the upsides of the international break is for players to go away... if they do score or play well, it's really good for confidence. You look at someone like Trent, who used to be going away with England and it would be really difficult and disappointing for him, and now he's actually playing and getting the confidence and the belief that's being shown in him, so that's one of the upsides.
"The downside is that kind of risk of injury and that's something you always worry about so the idea that Liverpool have had quite a few players sent back early is brilliant from a selfish perspective to be honest, particularly when they're very important players like Salah and Van Dijk, who are the other side of 30 where that risk of injury becomes a little bigger.
"I think with the Van Dijk and the Salah ones, for me it kind of underlines the good relations Liverpool try to keep with the respective FAs. It was a feature when Michael Edwards was at the club previously, worked really hard to establish those relationships, and I think we're seeing evidence of that coming back in now because Egypt were well within the rights to keep holding Mo Salah but they took a look at the pitch and said there's a chance of injury there.
"The fact is that Egypt and Liverpool both want the best version of him so to avoid that risk was a joint decision that was taken and benefits them both, but obviously Liverpool - with one eye on the fixtures coming up at the weekend - it's a boost.
"I think similarly with Van Dijk in the sense that immediately after he got the red card he spoke about sticking around for the Germany game, but obviously a phone call has gone in there and they've spoken about it and he's come back early - again really beneficial for Liverpool for him to have that little bit of extra rest.
"He can come back into training now ahead of Chelsea in hopefully peak condition and be fully ready for that one, so really, really good news for Liverpool."
Liverpool also appear to have emerged unscathed physically from the international break, with no players joining Alisson Becker (hamstring), Harvey Elliott (foot) and Federico Chiesa (unspecified) in the Anfield infirmary.
A handful of players also came good for their nations alongside Salah, as Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a terrific free kick in England's 3-1 win over Finland, while Luis Diaz (Colombia) and Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary) found the back of the net too.
Furthermore, 21-year-old right-back Conor Bradley captained Northern Ireland against Belarus and Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League, helping his country beat the latter 5-0.
