Liverpool calm over Mohamed Salah future despite Jürgen Klopp row

Liverpool remain relaxed about Mohamed Salah’s future and expect the forward to stay next season, when he will enter the final 12 months of his contract.

Salah’s touchline row with Jürgen Klopp at West Ham on Saturday, when he refused to shake the Liverpool manager’s hand before coming on as a substitute, prompted speculation over the Egypt international’s future and fresh questions over whether he will look to move to Saudi Arabia this summer.

However, Salah has given no indication he wishes to leave and Liverpool fully expect him to remain an important part of their plans under Arne Slot, who is close to being confirmed as Klopp’s successor. Liverpool view the touchline spat as a sign of Salah’s unhappiness at being dropped after the derby defeat at Everton rather than evidence of wider discontent.

Related: Liverpool have run out of steam. But Klopp’s legacy is already cemented

Salah’s lucrative contract is worth a basic £350,000 a week and the club believe it will be honoured. Liverpool, who rejected a world-record deal rising to £150m from Al-Ittihad for their leading goalscorer last summer, could try to extend Salah’s hugely successful Anfield career rather than lose him on a free in 2025.

Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold also enter the final 12 months of their contracts this summer and the incoming sporting director, Richard Hughes, will be tasked with securing their long-term futures.

Salah, who turns 32 in June, did not push for a move to the Saudi Pro League amid Al-Ittihad’s persistent interest last year. Liverpool are confident that will also be the case this summer, should Saudi clubs pursue him again. The Egypt international has 24 goals this season but has struggled since returning from a hamstring injury sustained at the Africa Cup of Nations in January that brought the first extended layoff of his Liverpool career.