There are many precedents in the Premier League for once-conscientious players to check out mentally once buttressed by lavish contract renewals. Take Marcus Rashford, who had a wondrous 30-goal season two years ago, only to become an expensive carthorse at United once he earned a five-year extension worth £325,000 a week.
Mesut Ozil, likewise, was never the same after Arsenal made him, in 2018, their highest-paid player ever, rewarding him to the tune of £350,000 a week. With such absurd numbers bringing their own pressure, Ozil could not cope, his attitude becoming so detached that then manager Unai Emery openly questioned his motivation.
Thankfully for Slot, Salah and Van Dijk are far from the stage where their investment in the cause can be doubted. But their struggles are of a magnitude where we can reasonably ask why Liverpool placed them in golden handcuffs at such a late phase of their careers. No player in his mid-30s, besides Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, has ever produced a standard to justify the money that Liverpool’s twin totems now command.
Salah is exhibit A, appearing to take his foot off the accelerator almost the instant that the cash injection came through. His decline, which could be temporary, is such that you wonder if Slot will even start him in every game. Unthinkable? Well, so too was the fact that he was substituted after 85 minutes, with Jeremie Frimpong immediately offering a greater threat as his replacement.
