EXCLUSIVE: Mo Salah has penned a new deal at Anfield that will keep him there until 2027 – now, a doc has weighed in on how the 32-year-old's body could hold up over the next 24 months

Mo Salah is staying at Liverpool for another two years, but at 32, he isn’t getting any younger.

The Kop will be ecstatic at the news – especially among rumours of key players such as Trent Alexander Arnold and Allisson looking into moves away this summer – but is there a danger they aren’t going to have the same player they have become accustomed to for much longer?

Still valued by Transfer Markt at €55m, the Egyptian has played in every one of Liverpool’s Premier League games this season – that’s a lot of miles on the body of an older players, especially a winger.

The current signs of life this season have been excellent and he has arguably been the best player in the Premier League this year.

Meanwhile, other equatable players in both age, position and quality over their careers, are showing the early signs of dropping below the standards they’ve set previously.

The most obvious of these names is 32-year-old Son Heung-Min, who despite bagging seven goals and nine assists in the league this year, has left fans frustrated by seeming off the pace on a number of outings.

Salah, who is the same age, has bagged 27 goals and 17 assists in the league, which suggests that even if Salah is entering the twilight of his career, he certainly isn’t slowing down just yet.

According to Opta, both players have had the same number of chances this season at 95, yet Salah's shots have an XG of 0.25, compared to Son’s 0.13. Now, Liverpool will have to gamble on the hope that Salah is more resistant to age than the Spurs star.

Despite this, biomedical science lecturer at the University of Salford and Liverpool fan, Dr Gareth Nye, said there was every chance Salah could maintain levels to the end of this new contract.

“The 32 year old has only had 12 reported injuries that caused 38 games missed for club and country since the 12/13 season,” he said. “One of these injuries is listed as COVID so that takes him down to 11 injuries and 35 games missed. This is very very good stats for a footballer.

“As a man who's a year older, it always makes me laugh regarding the drop off of football players when they hit 30+.

“The biggest challenge in footballers over 30 is the physical demands it puts on the body.

“For most pro footballers like Mo Salah, he will be playing three games a week for most of the season and in some pinch points like the Christmas season where the turn around is only a few days. With training in between it can be physically stressful on the body.

“You are also competing with younger players who may be naturally fitter or quicker which gives a perception that older players have a natural drop off.

“What we do see is the recovery rates are slower as we age, particularly in muscle. The natural reserve of stem cells used to repair tissue runs out and so muscle injuries may appear more often and take longer to heal.”

“Essentially it's very individualistic and depends on the player's body, how they train, recover and heal. A big part of this will be avoiding big injuries.

“Mo Salah though is a machine when it comes to fitness and im sure has a great sports science team around him. There is no reason he can't join the likes of Ronaldo and Messi and the great James Milner and play at the very highest level for a very long time to come.”

The numbers suggest this is more than possible. This season has already been Salah’s second best in front of goal in League competitions, bettered only by his rookie Liverpool season in 2017/18 where he netted 32 times. With Seven games left this year, he has time to pile on the six more goals needed to beat his personal best.

This has also been his best season for assists too, with 17, his second best coming in 2021/2022, where he had 13.

One possible cause for concern, however, comes from how Salah has piled on his goal tally this year. Nine of his goals have come from penalties, his most ever, meaning his tally excluding those from the spot is only 18, making this only his joint third best in a Liverpool shirt.