Whilst he has lost pace, it hasn't seemingly affected his output this season.
In fact his creative numbers are not only higher than ever, but I've never seen a player who doesn't take set pieces register a expected assist figure per game, as high as Salah's currently is.
His form has dropped in the last few games, as typically happens in the last 10 games of a season for Salah, this has been the case for him for over 5 yrs, it stings now as we don't have the likes of mane and co to make up for Salah's usual late season slowdown. But this is due to game volume rather than age, as the only season in the last 5/6 that he finished strong was last yr, when he had a month off, due to Egypt not being at the WC. We need to manage his minutes somewhat going forwards, he should be starting perhaps 3 games in 4 going into next season.
I would recommend seeing how he performs at the start of next yr and then offering a 1/2 extension, if he is performing like he has this season
Ronaldo's declining physicality didn't enormously impact his output either, but it did affect how useful he was to his teams, and whilst he was Utd's top scorer in the one full season he was there, they were having to massively compromise for him to their overall detriment. Now I'm not trying to say that's the case for Salah at all, but just pointing out individual stats don't necessarily tell the whole story of how well a player is benefitting their team. As you say though, Salah has adapted his game superbly to become a bit more of a playmaker, which it feels like we've not been able to rountinely make use of since he returned from injury (I think this is a set-up issue as much as his own bad form) - hopefully whatever set-up we have next season gives him the platform to do more of that, and gets him between the width of the posts, rather than asking him to beat defenders 1vs1 from deep/out wide, which he doesn't excel at anymore.
I don't actually disagree with your suggestion, seeing how he gets on over the course of next season and offering a short extension I think would probably be in our best interests. However he's going to be allowed to sign a pre-contact in January and you can bet that teams will be in his ear now, and whilst the above approach is most prudent for us, it's probably not going to make him feel overly loved or valued and the stats boyz in charge are going to approach it with less sentimentality than Klopp would - if PSG start flashing their knickers and saying we'll give you Mbappe's wages whilst we're sitting around saying "well let's see how you perform over the season, and then we'll maybe offer you an extension on massively reduced terms" then I can only see that going one way. There's zero chance we offer him a new two year extension in the next 6 months on his current wage, nor should we (especially if as you suggest, and as I think is correct, he's going to start playing
less football for us - it would distort the wage structure). We're not the only party who gets to make decisions here, and arguably at this stage Salah holds most of the cards - if he fancies plying his trade or getting more money elsewhere then he will. He might not even want to stick around for a rebuild, he might not get on with the new manager, he might want to try a new league where silverware is more assured. Seems to be a lot of assumption of, we offer him extension = he stays more years, and that might not even be the case - he could have already made his mind up to run his contract down.
Do people not know how to deduce bad form and a steady decline in ability? For whatever he’s lost in dribbling and lightening pace he has gained in play making and passing so from my perspective any decline is minimal overall.
It's been the subject of debate by others on here sure, but again, that's not what you and I are debating. You're talking about offering him a multi-year extension, and if we do that the decision probably has to be made in the next 6 months or he'll sign a pre-agreement elsewhere. These (multi-million pound) contract decisions are not based on just his form/ability now, they're based on what it will be in 2 years time - which is a guess. Maybe you're right, and he's the best player in the league until 35 - I'd love it. Maybe we commit nearly £40m to a 2 year extension, on top of the £20m he already has left on his contract, and he comes back for pre-season in 2025 and falls off the proverbial cliff like so many players of that age do. Either of those things could happen, or it could be somewhere in the middle, and we have no idea which it will be - I totally accept that. But probability matters to the people making these incredibly significant business decisions, and the
probability is that even if he hasn't declined much yet, he will over the next year or two. You can't cheat Father Time.