El-Hadji Diouf claims Salah's nationality is behind collapse of Liverpool talks

El-Hadji Diouf believes Liverpool "will not give Mohamed Salah the best contract like others" because he is African and not European.

Salah, 29, is out of contract in June 2023 and renewal talks have stalled after Liverpool's last offer in December was rejected by his agent Ramy Abbas Issa. It's believed Salah wants a wage of around £400,000-a-week to match the Premier League's best paid players.

The Egyptian is undoubtedly one of the best footballers in the world right now. He is the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 20 goals and has also provided 10 assists. Only his Liverpool team-mate Trent Alexander Arnold has set up more goals (11).

Salah has enjoyed plenty of success at Liverpool since arriving from Roma in the summer of 2017, scoring 153 goals in all competitions. During that time, he's won the Premier League, Champions League, EFL Cup, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

And Diouf, who played for Liverpool between 2002 and 2004, believes his former employers should match Salah's demands and continue winning silverware together. "It is obvious that Liverpool must accept Salah's demands," Diouf told beIN Sports. "If I were Salah, I would stay at Liverpool, he can make more money, he is the best player at the club with [Sadio] Mane, and with him they will win a lot of trophies.

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"He's 30 years old [in June], and I'm asking him to play 4 more years with the Reds. A transfer to Real Madrid will mean he will have to start all over again." Salah has been linked with a summer move to Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona manager Xavi is said to be determined to sign the Liverpool ace as his main forward for next season, deploying him in an unfamiliar No9 position.

Salah is currently thought to earn around £200,000-a-week at Anfield. Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, meanwhile, is reportedly taking home £400,000-a-week and Manchester United icon Cristiano Ronaldo is pocketing £510,000-a-week.

On Salah's nationality, Diouf added: "Salah has to realise that he is African, so they will not treat him like the Europeans, and they will not give him the best contract like the others. The same thing happened to me when I was at Liverpool, they told me not to go to my country to play with my national team."

Despite Diouf's view, there is no evidence to support his claim.

Speaking earlier this month, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp called for patience. "Mo expects this club to be ambitious," he said. "We cannot do much more. It is Mo's decision. It is all fine from my point of view. Nothing happened further, no signing or rejection. We just have to wait, there's no rush."

Salah said he wanted to finish his career at Liverpool last October, yet admitted the decision is "not in his hands". He added: "At the moment I can't see myself ever playing against Liverpool. That would make me sad.... let's see what will happen in the future."