Michael Owen thinks Mo Salah will stay with Liverpool

There has been speculation about the future of the Egypt international, whose contract runs out in the summer of 2023.

He has had an incredible five seasons at Liverpool, scoring 153 goals in 239 appearances since arriving from Roma.

He has won a range of trophies at the club too, including the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup, Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

He has also scored 20 goals already this season, with the Reds just one point off Man City at the summit of the Premier League.

Owen was speaking at the launch of IPL Soccer, a tournament dedicated to showcasing the talent of British Asians, which will take place at Pride Park in Derby on May 8.

On Salah, Owen told BBC Sport, "I'd be very surprised if Mo Salah didn't sign with Liverpool. What are the options at the moment?"

"You are only going either sideways to Manchester City or down anywhere else because there is no-one else as good as these two teams in the world at the moment."

Owen also said that he was not surprised that the process has been drawn out.

He continued, "Let's give everyone time because these things don't happen overnight.

"You are talking about one of the biggest clubs in the world and one of the biggest players in the world and that player is about to sign the biggest contract of his life.

"I think it's entirely normal that negotiations can drag on a little bit."

Despite this, he also cautioned against Liverpool breaking their wage structure to accommodate Salah, saying, "You can't give players what they want. The whole game would be a disaster if that was the case.

"Liverpool have got to run it as a business. They can't, of course, give any player what they want because if you do then there are lots of other players in the squad that could be knocking on Jurgen Klopp's door saying, 'well, hang on a minute, if he's on this then I should be on that'.

"Then the whole structure they've built so well over the years would fall apart.

"I'm sure Liverpool are very sensible, I'm sure Mo Salah and his representatives are all very sensible and understand that. It's just a case of them finding the middle ground and, hopefully, everybody will find that quite soon.

"Mo Salah has got to be thinking about the chances of success in the future - if he's thinking along those lines then Liverpool ticks that box.

"It's just a question of whether they tick the box financially as well."