One of Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, according to Noel Whelan.
The Lowdown: Futures up in the air
The Reds may be riding the crest of a wave at the moment following their FA Cup triumph on Saturday, but some off-field matters are causing concern.
Both Salah and Mane are out of contract at the end of next season, and as of now, neither have signed new deals to prolong their respective stays at Anfield.
That means that they could both leave on free transfers next year, or possibly exit in a big-money move this summer.
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The Latest: Whelan backs either Salah or Mane to leave
Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan backed one of the Liverpool superstars to move on this summer. The one-time BBC radio pundit said:
"I do believe that one of them will go, whether it’s Salah or Mane. I’ve just got this gut feeling. I would love the two of them stay at Liverpool, I really would.
"It’s a really difficult proposition for Liverpool because I’m not sure what they would want to do. I would love to keep both of them, I really would.
"I just think financially, for the club, you wouldn’t want to hold on any longer. It’s either you sign the two of them now and give them what they want for four years and you take everything out of the equation, or you bring in some capital where you’re going to use on a player for the longevity.
"I just think there might be something in the pipeline, there might be a surprise at the end of the season. Whether that’s a Jude Bellingham or another winger, you’ve got Carvalho coming from Fulham. That’s an extra winger already."
The Verdict: Will they both stay?
In terms of their own careers, it makes perfect sense for both Salah and Mane to stay on at Liverpool, with the Reds arguably Europe's best and most appealing team at present along with Manchester City.
For that reason, you would still expect the legendary duo to remain at Anfield - Jurgen Klopp has described them both as 'world-class' - but there seems to be no guarantee of that currently.
It could simply be a case of waiting for the season to end before agreeing terms on new contracts, but there is a constant nagging feeling that one could suddenly depart, which would feel like a massive blow to the Reds given their enormous goal tallies of 155 for Salah and 119 for Mane at Liverpool.
Mane arguably feels the more likely of the two to move on, with Bayern Munich linked with signing the Senegal star this week, but he still has so much to offer and Liverpool must nail him down to a new contract, especially with him being in such good scoring form in 2022.
In other news, one Liverpool transfer could be announced imminently. Read more here.