Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool will not be forgiven if Mohamed Salah leaves.
Salah is now in the final 18 months of his existing deal at Anfield but progress over an extension appears to have hit a stumbling block since last summer.
The Egypt international insisted in an interview published this week that he is ‘not asking for crazy stuff’ in talks with Reds’ owners Fenway Sports Group.
However Carragher has urged his former employers to act swiftly to avoid losing Salah, who is currently at the Africa Cup of Nations, in the long-term.
“This talk of Salah’s contract will now probably intensify even more, because when he isn’t there you can see the effect that has,” he told Sky Sports after Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final stalemate with Arsenal.
“As a Liverpool supporter you should be wary that this [situation] is dragging on.
“Other big players at Liverpool have signed contracts in the last three or four months: the goalkeeper, Trent [Alexander-Arnold], Virgil van Dijk, huge figures in this team.
“Salah wants to be paid as well as any top player in the Premier League or world football, and why shouldn’t he?
“He deserves that, we’re talking about one of the best players in the world. The problem, and the angle Liverpool may be looking at it from, is where Salah would go?
“The Spanish giants are really out of the equation now given the problems they have financially.
“Would Salah leave and ruin his legacy by going to Manchester City or Manchester United? Probably not, so that’s probably Liverpool’s bargaining chip.
“I would love this deal to be done as quickly as possible. You cannot forget the price Liverpool signed Salah for.
“It wasn’t as if they went and spent £100 million, they did what they are great at and did a brilliant deal.
“The money they have invested in him already – transfer fee and wages – has been a snip.
“This is not a case of giving the player exactly what he wants.
“But Liverpool Football Club and the owners, I don’t think they would be forgiven if Salah left this club in the summer or in 18 months’ time.
“He’s a Liverpool legend, one of the greatest players the club has ever had, and it needs to be sorted sooner rather than later.”