Mo Salah isnt just walking on water for Liverpool, he could tiptoe across the Mersey. Or perhaps even the Red Sea.
The Egyptian is in the form of his life and the main reason the Slot Machine is seven points clear at the top of the EPL table.
His second-half performance in the 3-3 draw at Newcastle in midweek was a classic of the genre.
It was the 37th time hed scored he did so twice and assisted in an EPL game, overtaking Wayne Rooney to claim the competition record for such a feat.
And hes still counting. He has 225 goals in all competitions, only three behind the legendary Billy Liddell, who is fourth on the clubs all-time list.
Now 32, Salah is showing no signs of slowing down which is why Liverpool fans are singing: He fires a bow! Now give Mo his dough.
To those who are unaware, drawing an imaginary arrow is Salahs trademark goal celebration, while dough refers to a new contract.
His current deal expires at the end of the season, when he becomes a free agent and, on January 1, he will be entitled to talk to other suitors.
The prospect of losing their superstar for free is a looming cloud over the clubs otherwise clear, blue horizon.
Hes not the only one Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are in the same boat contractually, but Salah is the headline act.
In the 2023 summer transfer window, Liverpool rejected a 150 million offer for him from Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad.
To a club that must make what it spends, that could not have been an easy decision.
But it didnt prove as difficult as this one. Salah earns 350,000 a week, the highest paid player at Anfield, and turns 33 in June.
Few clubs offer large or lengthy deals to players in their 30s and lesser likes, as James Milner did, accept a salary cut just to stay on.
But Salah is different gravy.
He doesnt just possess stardust in his boots, he has the physique of a man 10 years his junior and has not been reluctant to show it in recent bare-chested celebrations.
Another point often overlooked when considering his longevity is that hes a late-starter.
Unlike Rooney and most other boy wonders, Salah was not playing 50 or 60 tough games a season when still in his teens.
He was 20 before he left Egypt for Switzerland where he showed enough promise at FC Basle for Chelsea to sign him.
But he spent most of his time on the bench and was allowed to leave for Roma having barely broken sweat at Stamford Bridge.
He was 23 before he became a regular in the cut and thrust of one of Europes Big Five leagues.
At a time when player burn-out has become a smouldering issue, perhaps late starter = late bloomer?
Its worth noting that even a stellar prospect like Lionel Messi was held back by Argentina and is still delivering for them at 37.
As Salah continues to make a case for being special, its clear that he genuinely wants to stay.
He sees the Reds as his best route to winning another Champions League medal and perhaps even the Ballon dOr.
He pointedly engaged a reporter after a recent game in a blatant attempt to nudge things along.
He said he felt more out than in at Liverpool and had not been offered a new deal.
This contradicts claims that talks between Salahs agent Ramy Abbas and the clubs sporting director Richard Hughes are positive and ongoing.
But Salah must have felt his form has put him in the driving seat.
Giving him the dough may seem a no-brainer to fans and the wider football world but its against the Moneyball philosophy of Liverpools owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG).
And what worries Kopites is that FSG has form in this area.
Most are now familiar with the name of Mookie Betts, the former megastar of the Boston Red Sox World Series-winning baseball team that FSG also own.
Like Salah, Betts wanted to stay when the Los Angeles Dodgers came for him.
But unlike Salah, the power hitter was just 27 when Boston decided theyd be better off spreading his huge salary around and on several young recruits.
The upshot was that Betts continued to shine, led the Dodgers to the World Series while the Red Sox were transformed into underdogs.
These are the words that make Kopites shudder tweeted by Boston baseball writer Bill Koch.
He accuses FSG head honcho John Henry of being content with a mid-tier payroll, while NBCs Sam Murray described the once-great franchise as treading water.
Opinions on Merseyside differ about FSG. They have transformed the club from near-bankruptcy, rebuilding Anfield and the team.
And they got lucky with Jurgen Klopp and, perhaps, now Arne Slot. Theyve wheeled and dealt well, but theres always the sense that their priority is the bottom line.
Salah will be their ultimate test. The Egyptian is now spoken of with the reverence that befits a club immortal.
The sheer idea of him walking out of the Shankly Gates to join another club for free is well, unthinkable.
What might just persuade the financial gurus in Boston to avert this nightmare scenario could be the cost of replacing him.
In terms of performance alone, he is irreplaceable no one comes near and the cost would be greater and come with high risks.
They do have a right-winger, Ben Doak, of whom great things are expected, but hes only 19 and cutting his teeth on loan at Middlesbrough in the Championship.
Hes light years from Salah whose brand is everywhere, cuts across the racial and religious divides, and Liverpool piggy-back on that.
Its one reason they have such a huge global following.
And you fear that without their talisman, they would lose that as well as his magic.
Anfield was not built for underdogs and you hope that FSG have learned their lesson with Mookie Betts.
Such guys dont tread water, they glide over it.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.