Mohamed Salah is desperate to extend his time on Merseyside and is more likely to stay at Anfield beyond the summer than leave, Liverpool transfer expert David Lynch has claimed.

The forward sparked controversy following Liverpool's 3-2 win against Southampton on Sunday after saying he was "more out than in" when asked about his future at Anfield.

Some leapt to Salah's defence, while others such as Jamie Carragher accused the forward of being selfish for supposedly creating a headline-grabbing story before a week in which Arne Slot's Reds are set take on Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday and Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

However, though Lynch agreed that the optics of the forward's comments appeared to be selfish, he emphasised his belief that Salah would sign a contract extension, telling Sports Mole: "Clearly Salah's a little frustrated with the pace of [contract] talks and wants to get things sorted. He wants to move Liverpool on and [put] pressure on [the owners] externally.

"It is a selfish act, but many people will agree that he deserves that selfish act because of what he's given to Liverpool, and maybe that's a fair point of view.

"[There's] clear desperation on his side to stay, so that is part of the ingredients for him ultimately staying put, but at the moment we're still a way off that."

'Civil War'

Carragher's comments have been met by a wave of backlash amongst fans, with some suggesting that the former Liverpool defender read too much into Salah's interview.

The pundit highlighted that while he wanted the Reds' talisman to stay at the club, he felt the Egyptian had deliberately sought to create headlines, saying on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football: "In the seven years he's been at the football club, he stopped in the mixed zone twice.

"But he decided to stop for the third time away at Southampton on the back of winning Liverpool the game and putting that out.

"If he continues to put comments out or his agent keeps putting cryptic tweets out, that's selfish."

Lynch weighed in on the debate when speaking to Sports Mole and noted his concerns that Salah may have inadvertently divided the fanbase at a time when the club should be pulling together given they are currently first in the Premier League.

When asked for his views on the situation, Lynch said: "I see that Jamie Carragher has received criticism around that for describing it as selfish, but if you break it down to the basics of it, it really is quite a selfish act.

"He's not coming out to say this for the benefit of Liverpool Football Club, it doesn't help them coming into this huge week. It doesn't help them in the title race, it doesn't help anything. It's purely because he wants to stay and he wants to get [his thoughts] out there, but I don't begrudge him that.

"He's creating a bit of a civil war amongst some fans because there's been arguments that [he is] creating a negative atmosphere and turning them against the club as a whole. It's just unnecessary because the case [to extend his contract] is there."

Can Liverpool afford to lose Salah?

The Reds are arguably not in a position where they can allow their star forward to leave the club given their reliance on his output.

Indeed, Salah has been responsible for 67% of Liverpool's goals this season in the Premier League, either by finding the back of the net himself or by assisting a teammate, and without his contributions Slot's team would be in 13th place.

Lynch told Sports Mole that Liverpool's hierarchy are keenly aware that finding someone as productive as the Egyptian is a near impossible task, saying: "Liverpool will already feel anyway that [they] can't afford to let him go.

"There's no chance he can [be allowed to go] because good luck to them trying to find a guy who's going to get [those] sorts of numbers for next season. They've just got absolutely no chance.

"For a club who constantly say that it's very difficult to find players who are good enough to play at this level and truly improve the team, trying to find someone at [Salah's] level? I can't see how they manage to do that for next season."

Regardless of the controversy that surrounds Salah's comments, Carragher and all other Reds fans will hope that the Egyptian can help Liverpool make it five wins from five in the Champions League when they play Real Madrid on Wednesday.