Anfield and Salah are a perfect match – but Liverpool could cope without their hero | Jonathan Wilson

There should be a clinical assessment of whether it is worth paying £400,000 a week to keep the talismanic Egyptian

The immediate thought is that it cannot happen. Mohamed Salah, the embodiment of this glorious period of Liverpool’s history, cannot be allowed to leave: the club have to give him whatever he wants. Just make sure he stays, keeps rattling along at 20-odd goals a season, many of which will be stunning, keeps delighting both fans and neutrals with his verve and imagination.

But the immediate thought may not be entirely helpful: no player is ever irreplaceable. Of course, there is a sentimental appeal to the idea that a player and a club have a special relationship, particularly when that player has been instrumental in a club’s rise, as Salah has been for Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp. But circumstances change. Liverpool’s history is a study in the importance of not becoming unduly attached to heroes, of moving players on at the right time.