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Pep Guardiola's response to Mohamed Salah Liverpool contract extension speaks volumes



 When asked for his thoughts on Mohamed Salah's freshly-announced Liverpool contract extension, Pep Guardiola could only give a muted congratulations. His reaction to that question and others during Friday's press conference showed the vast difference in mood between Merseyside and Manchester City.

After months and months of speculation, Liverpool and Salah finally put to rest any lingering doubts of their partnership coming to an end this summer with a big announcement on Friday morning. The Egyptian is now destined to continue his career at Anfield until 2027 at least.

As confidence-inducing as this piece of business is for the Reds, it should have the completely opposite effect on rivals. And that is the impression Guardiola certainly gave off when speaking to the media.

Asked how good it is to see a player of the 32-year-old's ilk stay in the Premier League, the City manager replied: "That's good to Arne Slot and the fans of Liverpool. There's no doubt the quality of Mo Salah."

Perhaps Guardiola can't get too excited about a player who's netted 13 and assisted eight against his team across the years because of his competitive streak. After all, the Reds beat City to the only Premier League title they've failed to win since 2018 and, seemingly, a second instance of that will be recorded in just a matter of a few weeks.

If all goes as expected, Salah would be bringing the fight to the current champions to contest two more Premier League campaigns in 2025/26 and 2026/27. The City manager might even look at his squad in its current state and question whether or not will they be there to fight for future titles.

With injuries, ageing and underperforming stars, they sit sixth in this season's Premier League with seven matches to go. There's not even guarantee that they play Champions  League football next year.

Asked about transfer business this summer, to rectify problem they have experienced, the Catalan replied: "I don't know what's going to happen. Of course, the club is working, but we are not going to have 45 players in the squad as it's not sustainable, in terms of emotionally for the team.

We have to see - except Kevin [De Bruyne] - all the other contracts and we'll see until the end how they behave - how we are. We are going to see [what happens this summer]."

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