Despite his storied and heated rivalry with Liverpool, Keane expressed delight that Salah decided to extend his stay, while also making an interesting claim about Arsenal.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Keane said: “No doubt he is a good example to all the young players. We see him doing it, week-in, week-out, scoring the goals and getting assists.
“If you put him in the Arsenal team, Arsenal would win the league this year, that’s how special he is. I’m kind of glad they got the deal done, because you want the top players to play in the Premier League.
“It was only a matter of time that they got it agreed. I think he deserves it. He’s a special player and no doubt a good pro. You’re on about making the changes the club have and making targets and not giving contracts to certain players, but every player can be different.
“We’ve seen him get interviewed many times, he is a proper professional, a fitness freak and he is doing the business. That’s why they had to give him the deal, they just couldn’t let him go out the door on a free.”
Despite not hitting the back of the net against Everton and Fulham in Liverpool‘s recent outings, Salah has racked up an impressive 32 goals and 22 assists across all competitions this season. Rumours swirled about a big-money move to Saudi Arabia, yet Salah committed his future to Liverpool with a fresh contract.
Explaining his decision to stay with the Reds, Salah told the Liverpool website: “I’m very excited. We have a great team now. Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.
“It’s great, I had my best years here. I played eight years, hopefully it’s going to be 10. Enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I had the best years in my career.
“I would like to say to [the fans], I am very, very happy to be here. I signed here because I believe we can win a lot of big trophies together. Keep supporting us and we’ll give it our best, and hopefully in the future we’re going to win more trophies.”