Salah sends contract message to the club

THE last time Mohamed Salah appeared at the London Stadium, he was involved in a very public touchline spat with Jurgen Klopp and vowed that 'there will be fire' if he spoke publicly about the incident.

- PAUL GORST

The late-April flashpoint came towards the end of a term when the team was tiring and during a period where a frustrated Salah was struggling to shake off the aftereffects of a hamstring issue that blighted the second half of his year at Anfield.

The fitness concerns, the age and the form all combined to give some ammunition to argue that Salah was a fading force.

There won't be anyone putting their hand up to say that was their take now.

This time around, the only pyrotechnics provided by Salah against West Ham came on the pitch as the league leaders strolled to a 5-0 win and he fired in his 20th goal of a season that moved Liverpool eight points clear at the summit.

What looks to be a mouthwatering 2025 to come under Arne Slot has now been set up. It's all quite the contrast.

After being denied by a stunning Alphonse Areola save early on, Salah was not to be kept out by West Ham as he steadied himself from Curtis Jones' pass to unerringly find the corner for 3-0 just before the break.

That came after Luis Diaz had rattled home the deserved opener and Salah had more than a hand in the second goal by bamboozling Kostantinos Mavropanos before Cody Gakpo swept home.

It was another spellbinding performance from the player the supporters so affectionately refer to as the 'Egyptian King' and his brilliance remains undimmed.