John Aldridge has told The Irish Independent that Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane could be tempted away from Liverpool.
What did he say?
The ex-Reds striker was speaking on Sunday, prior to the Anfield outfit's 2-2 draw at Shrewsbury.
Talking about potential transfer business, the 61-year-old said: "Improving a Liverpool winning machine is a tough task, but Klopp and Liverpool's transfer maestro Michael Edwards need to consider how to do that later this year, because standing still is not an option.
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"Who knows, Mo Salah or Sadio Mane may be tempted away if Real Madrid or Barcelona come in for them and football teams are always a work in progress, with Liverpool likely to target some key areas when they look to recruitment."
Money can be the only reason
A week doesn't seem to go by without Reds players being linked with a switch away from Anfield. Salah is said to be well on the radar of Real Madrid, whilst Mady Toure previously insinuated that Mane needs to leave the club. As it stands, though, nothing concrete has come in to play.
It is hard to see why they would be tempted away from Anfield from a sporting perspective. Jurgen Klopp's men are currently 16 points ahead in the Premier League at the top of the table, and have also reached the last two Champions League finals - they even won the last one. They have not lost in the league for over a year, and also recently won the Club World Cup as well.
As such, the only possible thinking behind a potential switch can be financial. Currently, the Egypt international earns £200,000 a week, whilst the former Southampton forward rakes in £100,000 every seven days - as per Sportrac. Salah is the highest earner on Merseyside, but his wage would see him place joint-third at Real, as per The Express, whilst nine players take in more at Barcelona according to GiveMeSport. Only five first-team players earn less than Mane at the Camp Nou, meanwhile, whilst a number of players earn more at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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Mane has already made it clear that money is not important to him (nsemwoha.com via AS), but it is not known what Salah's thoughts are. But it would likely take something monumental for either of them to think about leaving. Considering how Liverpool are performing at the moment, there is nothing to tempt them away.