5 superstars who are having contract issues with their clubs

#3 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Liverpool v Chelsea - Premier League

That Mohamed Salah has had a profound impact at Liverpool since joining the club in 2017 has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. His exploits have been critical to Liverpool winning the Champions League in the 2018-19 season and the Premier League in the subsequent one.

Salah has been in sublime form this season as well, scoring nine goals and providing three assists in nine appearances across all competitions thus far. His current contract with the club is set to expire in 2023 and the Merseysiders are looking to give him a new deal.

According to The Independent, Salah wants to be the top earner at the club and desires to pocket between £300,000 and £380,000 in weekly wages. He also wants the new deal to run until 2025 and he will be 34 by then. So the Egyptian is playing his cards like he knows this is his last chance to secure a bumper contract.

Salah's agent Ramy Abbas Issa is famous for posting hints on social media regarding his client's future. After Salah produced an excellent performance in Liverpool's Premier League opening day win over Norwich City, Issa tweeted: “I hope they’re watching.”

#2 Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

Manchester United v Villarreal CF: Group F - UEFA Champions League

If you've followed football closely over the past several years, you wouldn't have missed all the noise surrounding Paul Pogba's future. His agent Mino Raiola and his brothers have been all over social media talking about the player's desire to leave the club.

Pogba, however, has sworn his allegiance to Manchester United. But super agent Mino Raiola wouldn't give it a rest. He spoke assuredly about a Paul Pogba exit in the middle of the 2020-21 season. Speaking to Tuttosport in December last year, Raiola said:

"There's no point beating about the bush. It's better to speak out clearly, look forward and avoid wasting time to find culprits.

"Paul is unhappy at Man Utd, he can't manage to express himself like he wants to and like people expect him to. He needs to change team, he needs a change of scenery. He has a contract that will expire in a year and a half, in the summer of 2022, but the best solution for all parties is a transfer in the next (summer) window."

Although Pogba has not publicly reprimanded his agent for undermining the club and talking about his future, he has said multiple times that he is focused on Manchester United. He has also openly flirted with Real Madrid and as such, we have to take whatever he says with a pinch of salt.

But the situation has improved at Manchester United and the club have an array of stars and are showing a lot of ambition. Pogba has also enjoyed great returns in the Premier League so far this new season, registering seven assists in seven appearances.

However, his current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2022. Manchester United need to act swiftly if they want to keep him at the club and not lose him on a free transfer. Meanwhile, Pogba has not shied away from hinting at a potential Juventus return once his contract with Manchester United expires next summer.

Speaking to Sport Mediaset after France's sensational 3-2 win over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League semi-final, Pogba said:

“I always talk with my former teammates at Juventus, [Juan] Cuadrado, [Paulo] Dybala… Now I’m a Man Utd player, I still have a year on my contract, then we will see. I want to finish the season well there, then we’ll see."

#1 Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Brugge KV v Paris Saint-Germain: Group A - UEFA Champions League

Kylian Mbappe's intention was to leave Paris Saint-Germain this past summer. The Frenchman reportedly has his eyes set on a move to Real Madrid and has made no secret of it. In an interview with RMC Sport (via The Guardian), the 22-year-old spilled the beans on all of it himself.

"I asked to leave, because from the moment I did not want to extend [my contract], I wanted the club to have a transfer fee to find a quality replacement."

“It is a club that has given me a lot, I have always been happy, the four years I spent here, and I am still happy. I announced it early enough … I said, if you don’t want me to leave, I’ll stay.”

Meanwhile, there were reports which claimed that Mbappe had rejected upto seven contract proposals from PSG. In response to this, he said:

“People have said that I refused six or seven offers of extension, that I do not want to talk to [sporting director] Leonardo, this is absolutely not true. They told me ‘Kylian now you talk with the president.'

“Personally, I did not appreciate the fact that they said I came [with the news he wanted to leave] the last week of August. I said at the end of July that I wanted to go.”

He has also taken no prisoners when it comes to speaking about his desire to join Real Madrid. Speaking to L'Equipe (via Managing Madrid) in another interview, Mbappe said:

“PSG decided not to sell me and I was OK with that decision. I kept playing in August and I didn’t have a problem with that, I’m still playing for a great team in a place where I was and I still am happy.

"Why did I want to go? I thought my adventure there was over, I wanted to discover a new thing. If I had left this summer it would only have been to join Real Madrid. Leaving was a logical step in my career.

But he refused to confirm he was going to join Real Madrid as a free agent next summer.

“Is my departure confirmed? The truth of yesterday is not the truth of today, nor that of tomorrow. If I had been told that Messi was going to play for PSG, I would not have believed him. So, we don’t know what can happen."

In a fresh twist, Mbappe's mother has told Le Parisien that her son is now in talks over a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

"We are talking right now with PSG and all is well. I spoke last night with [PSG sporting director] Leonardo. Will we reach a solution? One thing is clear. He is going to give everything until the end to win the Champions League."

She added that Mbappe will make a decision based on his happiness.

"Kylian needs to be happy. If he is sad, he is capable of saying, I give it up. And he says that often. With Kylian, everything can change from one day to the next."

We don't know where this one's headed but we can be certain that the Kylian Mbappe contract saga is going to be really entertaining.