By declining to speak to the media at West Ham United on Saturday lunchtime, Mohamed Salah in fact spoke volumes.

It's become something of a running joke between the player and the journalists who ask out of habit knowing full well the friendly rejection is always incoming.

In 2018, Salah made good on a promise to speak after he reached the 40-goal mark in his debut campaign before he also kept to his words a year later when Liverpool won the Champions League in Madrid.

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Since then, Salah - aside from any sit-down interview pre-arranged through either the club or his agent, the Colombian lawyer Ramy Abbas - has avoided going on the record without duress.

“There is going to be fire today if I speak," Salah said as he walked through in response to requests from first the ECHO and then the Athletic.

When asked to clarify if he did in fact say the word 'fire', he replied: "Of course!"

The incident was caught on film by ESPN Brasil and has since been shared by, among others, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, who has over 20m followers on social media platform X.

The phrase has inevitably caused a stir among Liverpool's fanbase but it should also be stressed Salah was in good enough spirits when delivering the words, which came after his touchline spat with Jurgen Klopp when being readied to emerge as a second-half substitute of the 2-2 draw.

That being said, what will also be taken into account will be the fact that Salah has largely continued to deliver since signing his three-year extension in the summer of 2022 on the Greek island of Mykonos.

One of the deciding factors around the call to make the frontman the most well-paid player in Anfield history, by a considerable distance, was his own self-belief that he could continue posting the sorts of numbers that enabled him to demand such a princely sum in the first place.

Salah is believed to earn around £350,000 but heavily incentivised to potentially go past £400,000 if certain criteria was met and it was the club's trust in Salah's faith in his own abilities that led to the extension being penned.
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