Mohamed Salah drops potential retirement date as Liverpool star makes Saudi confession

forward does not know where the future lies once his new two-year deal expires but believes he can play until he is 40 and remains in contact with clubs in Saudi Arabia. The Egypt international put an end to season-long speculation by agreeing a contract extension last month but would have gone to the Middle East had a solution not been found.

In September 2023, Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad had a £150million bid turned down but as the highest-profile Muslim footballer in world football, it was expected he would eventually move to the country. That seems more likely after Salah - who turns 33 in a couple of weeks - said he thought he had years left in his career.

"I will stop playing when I have that feeling but if you ask me for my opinion, I think I can play until the age of 39 or 40," he said in an interview with Egyptian television channel ON Sports, conducted before Monday's horrific events at the club's victory parade in the city.

"But if I felt before that I wanted to stop, I would quit. I have achieved a lot of things."

On the most recent links to Saudi, he added: "I thought it was a good opportunity. My contract was up at Liverpool and I would have gone to Saudi but we finalised the deal with Liverpool.

"And I still have a good relationship with them and I always stay in contact with them. Yes, we were talking to each other.

"I don't know what is going to happen but I am happy here in Liverpool and I am staying here for the next two years. Then I will see what I will do next."

Salah was in superb form for Liverpool during the Premier League campaign, scoring 29 league goals and providing 18 assists. He led the celebrations after the club's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday, in which he scored a late equaliser.

He was then involved in Liverpool's open-top bus parade on Monday and seems set to play a key role next term.

Meanwhile, Willie Stevenson, a two-time first division championship winner under Bill Shankly, has died at the age of 85. The Scot made 241 appearances for the club in the 1960s after signing from Rangers - where he also won the league and Scottish Cup - and was a member of the team which won the club's first FA Cup in 1965. Stevenson also played for Stoke, Tranmere, Vancouver Whitecaps and Macclesfield.