Alan Shearer disagrees with Jamie Carragher over Mohamed Salah contract stance

Alan Shearer believes Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is within his rights to discuss his current contract situation - with his stance in contrast to Reds icon Jamie Carragher.

The Egyptian winger is currently in the final year of his deal at Anfield, meaning he will be free to leave the club for nothing at the end of the season

The 32-year-old has started the campaign in sterling form, contributing 15 goals and 12 assists in 21 outings already this term.

However, his comments about his standoff with Reds chiefs over a fresh agreement have proven divisive among pundits, with Carragher among those who have been critical of the attacker

Now, ex-Newcastle striker Shearer has waded into the debate, as he defended Salah for speaking out about the lack of progress when it comes to talks.

Shearer

“When clubs want to get rid of you as a footballer, they get rid of you.

“There’s no sympathy from them - there’s no hard feelings, if they don’t want to give you a new deal then you’re out of the door sharpish; so it works both ways.”

"Mo Salah came out after the Southampton game and said what the situation is, haven’t got a problem with that,"

"That’s him doing his negotiations, and he’s also doing his negotiations on the pitch by putting the ball in the back of the net.”

These remarks were in contrast to the comments made by Anfield hero Jamie Carragher, who accused Salah of being "selfish" in talking to reportersabout his contract standoff.

Speaking on Sky Sports, the pundit confessed he felt "very disappointed" with the forward for his actions.

Shearer addressed the separate issue of whether Liverpool chiefs should consider potentially breaking with their wage structure in order to retain the services of Salah.

Shearer said:

"I keep hearing people say they should give them what they want.

"You can't give players what they want because when other players are up for a new contract they'll want exactly the same.

“So, who's to say Salah doesn't want £1million per week? And then Van Dijk will argue that he wants what Salah is getting because he feels as if he's as important, if not more important than Salah.

"So you can't just give players what they want. There's always a middle ground somewhere that you have to settle for.

“We don't know exactly what the players want but there's no doubt that all three players will have had talks. It may just be that they've not been offered a deal yet."

Shearer added: In an ideal world, they'll keep all three of them. Whether they can or not, we don't know but I'd guess there'll be a deal further down the line for at least two of the three."