Salah panic avoided by Manchester United but Liverpool call puts pressure on Spurs, Man City

Only Newcastle and West Ham get more minutes out of their best-paid player than Liverpool, whose Mo Salah panic is overshadowing problems at six other clubs.

Salah is not the only highest earner on a deal expiring imminently. He is not even the only one in his 30s based on Merseyside.

Arsenal – Kai Havertz

It is not as if there is a pressing need at the Emirates to extend the commitment of a player who joined on a long-term deal only 18 months ago, nor to renew his already handsome terms. Havertz is entitled to pick up a reported £280,000 per week and be told on a fortnightly basis Arsenal have to replace him until 2028

Percentage of Arsenal minutes played by Havertz this season: 87.8%

Aston Villa – Emi Martinez, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara

“I still think that we can win a trophy here. I will have a go in the next five years and see if we can achieve that,” said Martinez back in August after signing an extension until 2029.

Neither Tielemans nor Kamara have signed extensions to the contracts they signed when they joined, both of which run to 2027.

Percentage of Aston Villa minutes played by Martinez this season: 88%

Percentage of Aston Villa minutes played by Tielemans this season: 87%

Percentage of Aston Villa minutes played by Kamara this season: 13.8%

Bournemouth – Evanilson

As happy as his new employers can be with the acclimatisation and output of their perennially offside record signing, there is little pressure to tie him down any longer. 2029 is plenty long enough.

Percentage of Bournemouth minutes played by Evanilson this season: 72.5%

Brentford – Aaron Hickey

It seems vanishingly unlikely that Hickey is actually the highest-paid player at Brentford but until they grow up and publish a full breakdown of their entire wage bill, he will have to do. Hamstring issues which restricted the right-back to 11 appearances and ruled him out of the Euros last season have already wreaked havoc this campaign and placed pressure on a full recovery being made before his deal expires in 2026.

Percentage of Brentford minutes played by Hickey this season: 0%

Brighton – Ferdi Kadioglu

By the time Kadioglu’s contract expires in 2028 there is a strong chance Brighton have used the Turkish James Milner in every possible position.

Percentage of Brighton minutes played by Kadioglu this season: 40.7%

Chelsea – Reece James

“I cannot wait to see what the future holds, and I am sure we will have the chance of winning many trophies,” said James when he signed his latest deal two years, four permanent managers, 17 Premier League starts and zero trophies ago. Enzo Maresca has already declared that the defender’s “body cannot play twice a week” but all parties might honestly settle for any sort of consistent run before 2028. It really does feel like they maybe should have sold him.

Percentage of Chelsea minutes played by James this season: 14.1%

Crystal Palace – Daichi Kamada

A difficult start to Premier League life for Kamada suggests offering a deal only until 2026 for a well-remunerated free agent was justified.

Percentage of Crystal Palace minutes played by Kamada this season: 63.2%

Everton – Abdoulaye Doucoure

A club on Merseyside whose highest earner is well into their 30s on a contract which expires in 2025, is it? The similarities end there: most supporters seem to agree that Everton should move Doucoure on; plenty reckon it was a mistake in the first place to trigger the one-year extension clause in the summer.

Percentage of Everton minutes played by Doucoure this season: 63.8%

Fulham – Bernd Leno

Rarely has £8m been spent so shrewdly, as reflected when Fulham waited barely 18 months after signing Leno to extend his deal to 2027, with the option of a further year when he’ll presumably be at his 37-year-old peak.

Percentage of Fulham minutes played by Leno this season: 85.7%

Ipswich – Axel Tuanzebe

Kalvin Phillips earns more than three times as much but Manchester City are at least covering a portion of his wages. To be fair, his terms with Ipswich expire at the same time as Tuanzebe, who had a one-year contract extension triggered in the summer to 2025.

Percentage of Ipswich minutes played by Tuanzebe this season: 59.4%

Leicester – Jamie Vardy

The prospect of Vardy and Leicester staying together on a perpetually rolling one-year contract until he finally completes his takeover of Red Bull is very real. When his current deal runs out in 2025 the 15th highest scorer in Premier League history will hope to have caught Robin van Persie, who is four goals ahead.

Percentage of Leicester minutes played by Vardy this season: 68.6%

Liverpool – Mo Salah

No idea when his contract expires; it’s not been mentioned.

Percentage of Liverpool minutes played by Salah this season: 88.8%