Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah insists he is not asking for "crazy stuff" but wants to be applauded in his new contract.
The Egypt international has less than 18 months left in his current deal and has reiterated whether he remains in the hands of the club.
The report claimed Salah is looking for a weekly salary of more than STG300,000 ($A568,000), which would break up the Reds' salary structure and represent a significant departure as owners Fenway Sports Group are looking to make players lucrative. Reluctant to hand over contract. Once they reach 30, which he does in June.
However, for a player who has scored 111 goals in 165 Premier League appearances and leads the race for a third Golden Boot in five years, it's not necessarily about the cash, but what it represents.
"I want to stay, but it's not in my hands. It's in their hands. They know what I want. I'm not asking for crazy stuff," Salah told GQ's first global sports issue, available January 25. Said while talking.
"The thing is, when you ask for something and they show you they can give you something (they should) because they appreciate what you did for the club.
"I'm here for my fifth year. I know the club very well. I love the fans. The fans love me."
"But with the administration, they have conveyed the situation. It is in their hands."
Salah - currently on duty for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations - has made a three-man shortlist for FIFA's best men's player of 2021 along with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski and Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi.
He finished seventh at last year's Ballon d'Or, but Egypt's ambition is to become the best in the world.
"If you asked me if it was a campaign for me to come here? Yes, absolutely," he said.
"I really can't lie and honestly say I didn't think about it. No, I do think about it. I want to be the best player in the world."
"But I will live a good life even if I don't win. My life is fine, everything is fine."