WHEN Mo Salah recently took off his shirt and showed off that impressive six-pack, I thought one thing: I hope my wife isn't looking.
It was the same for most guys across the country. Even in my best years as a player I didn't have muscles like that. In my day we didn't do weights.
That display of his killer abs is not only a treat for the ladies, but also underlines what a fantastic athlete Salah is, one of Liverpool's all-time greats and still a formidable footballer.
Even at 32, if you sign him on a three-year deal next summer, he won't suddenly fall off a cliff in terms of his fitness or his play.
But if I were in Arne Slot's place, as his manager at Anfield, I would think Salah is gone after this season, no matter what cryptic messages he spreads to muddy the waters about his future.
If he hasn't signed by now, then Salah is gone for me, despite the comments that the club didn't make a new offer like he did.
Let's face it, he could go to Saudi Arabia next summer and pocket a signing fee of £100 million alone. And that's without his salary on top. His value on the transfer market should be between 80 and 100 million euros.
Liverpool could have gotten more than that last summer, but the move to the Saudi Pro League didn't happen, which surprised me.
Now, in the era of Bosman's free transfer, much of what Liverpool would have collected will go to Salah.
He has a choice. If he is purely football driven then stay at Anfield. But even for someone like him it becomes difficult to turn down when clubs dangle crazy figures in front of you.
He could have gone last year too, but he probably figured that most of the £100m or even £200m that Liverpool would have got for him will go his way in 12 months' time, so he waits for it.
If he wins the Premier League title again with Liverpool this season, it seems in some ways a fitting way to go out.
You have to be honest and think to yourself that this uncertainty has been going on for so long that it makes things even more certain. That he's leaving.
The carefully written speeches, designed to keep people guessing, are just there to keep him from burning his bridges with the fans.
He doesn't want to deal with his supporters in bad faith – and I understand that.
He can leave next summer and then sit down and write his own check for a deal to take him to Saudi Arabia.
He could go to any club in the world – Real Madrid perhaps? But even they would struggle to compete with the money on offer in the Middle East.
And just imagine what a superstar he would be.
It suits him as a Muslim to begin with, and to have players like him around at any club would be incredible for others in the squad.
Younger players can look at guys like Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo, see how they train, that they don't eat rubbish, drink or abuse their bodies.
They can watch and learn what it takes if you want to be like Mo Salah. A fantastic example for young, hopeful professionals.
It's a world away from when I started in management at Bournemouth. We were talking about £200 a week contracts then, long before the advent of the Bosman ruling.
When I was at West Ham we sold Rio Ferdinand to Leeds for £18 million – a lot of money at the time.
The chairman, Terry Brown, told me he thought this would be one of the last major transfers as with the upcoming Bosman ruling all players would opt to run out of contract and leave for free.
That was his belief and you can understand his feelings at the time, but the transfers have only gotten crazier.
If nothing else, Salah's departure from England next summer would come as a huge relief to boys everywhere who have been sucking in their stomachs since those pictures of his rack came out.
BEING FRANK
IF I could give Frank Lampard one piece of advice on his return to management at Coventry it would be to get a wise old head on his staff.
Not me, I've had it, but someone with a little more experience than him who he can talk to.
When I went to Portsmouth as manager I brought in Jim Smith. I was an experienced manager myself at the time, but he was still great for me to have around.
Frank has a difficult job at Coventry and it would be a great advantage to have an older man in the team to gauge. But fair play to Frank for getting back into the game. He has so much to offer.
His knowledge of football is immense and his reputation as a player, and the way he conducted himself as a player, will hopefully rub off on the team.
It's about finding the right job. For example, people wait for Wayne Rooney to fail at every job.
But he went to Plymouth and although they are a big club they have no money.
Last season they almost survived. Wayne has been against it from the start. Still, I've sat down with him and talked about football and he has the makings of a great manager.
You just need the right club at the right time.
TRACTOR SOUND
Looking at Ipswich this season, I think they are best placed to pull off an upset and stay up.
The way they play, the energy and the atmosphere at Portman Road, especially last Sunday against Manchester United, really warmed me to them.
Kieran McKenna has a good side there and comes across so well.
I'm rooting for them.
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