Neville: Salah sees Liverpool as a stepping stone to Real Madrid or Barcelona

Gary Neville feels that Mo Salah is ready to move on from Liverpool and join either Real Madrid of Barcelona in the near future.

Salah has had an extraordinary career with the Reds since arriving on Merseyside in the summer in 2017 scoring 90 goals in 140 games for the Reds.

While his record-breaking first season will stand the test of time, he has certainly played a major part in the success of the club in the last two campaigns winning more individual honours along the way.

There has been speculation about suitors for Sadio Mane and more recently Roberto Firmino, it seemed like any talk about Salah departing had gone a tad quiet.

But Neville put it back on the agenda saying that a lack of love from the fans for the Egyptian superstar could come into play when he decides what his next move might be.

The Mirror ( via Sky Sports) reported the former Man United stalwart as saying:

“I said 18 months ago I thought Mo Salah would leave Liverpool.

"I think it's a little bit more simple in the sense of why Liverpool fans maybe don't demonstrate that love for Salah, and it's affinity and loyalty.

“I think there's a feeling that he wants to go and play at Real Madrid, he'll go to Barcelona - he'll take the big move.

Neville said that shouldn’t be seen as a criticism of Salah, it’s just that some players want to test themselves on the continent.

“I played with David Beckham, I played with Ruud van Nistelrooy, I played with Cristiano Ronaldo - they wanted to aspire to win the Ballon d'Or, they wanted to be at Real Madrid, they wanted to be up in lights and play at the biggest clubs in the world.

“I think there's a feeling: affinity, loyalty, will he leave us?

"I think he could.

"I think he is ultimately using Liverpool potentially as a stepping stone for his career. 

“He has aspirations to be [at a club like Madrid or Barca].

“Let's be honest, Real Madrid and Barcelona for a lot of players are the pinnacle."

You often see this thought process with South American players and the Reds have been the victim of it with Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Javier Mascherano to name a few.

Judging from a fair distance away, Mo seems to like the quiet life, much removed from all the frenzied limelight a move to the ‘big two’ in Spain would bring.

He keeps it pretty low-key, spending time with his family and generally seems happy on the pitch bonding well with his teammates.

And then there is the fact that Liverpool are currently the best team in World Football, that is not a claim, it is a cold hard fact.

Why would any player want to leave what Jürgen Klopp is building at this present moment, especially when he is a key member of this team?

Or perhaps is it just a ex-rival player wanting to cause a bit of disharmony in the ranks and knowing his own team cannot contend with the Reds on the pitch at this present time.

Knowing the mentality of this Liverpool squad, this sort of claim wouldn’t even raise a skerrick of friction.