Saudi Pro League side Al-Itihhad have ‘concrete interest’ in signing Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah. Interest from Saudi Arabia has long been suspected, but there has been a fresh assault to try and lure him this summer.
The 31-year-old joined the Reds from Roma back in 2017 and has gone on to become one of the best players in the Premier League, scoring 138 goals in the top flight for the Reds and adding a further 60 assists.
Salah has played a key role in Liverpool’s strong start to the 2023/24 season far, after setting up Luis Díaz for the opening goal against Chelsea and netting the second during the 3-1 win against Bournemouth last weekend.
However, despite his continued prominence at Anfield, Salah is currently being heavily linked with a move away from the club this summer. According to The Athletic, Saudi Arabian side Al-Itihhad has ‘concrete interest’ in signing the Egyptian forward this summer.
Saudi newspaper Al Riyadiah claims a two-year contract worth $195m has been offered to Salah. That’s on top of a $66m transfer fee to the club.
The renewed move to sign the player before the close of the transfer window is seemingly the latest in a recruitment drive of star players from Europe’s top leagues. However, it is currently ‘unclear’ whether or not a deal will materialize during this current window.
Liverpool has already lost players such as Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia and will not want to lose its talisman, with just days to go until the Premier League transfer window shuts on September 1.
Salah also penned a new three-year-deal at the club last summer, keeping him in Merseyside until 2025. His agent, Ramy Abbas, stated via his personal social media account earlier this summer that Salah remains committed to the Reds:
“Mohamed remains committed to LFC. If we considered leaving LFC this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract last summer.”
Liverpool.com says: Liverpool know what it has to do with any offer from Al-Ittihad. If the transfer fee reported in Saudi Arabia is accurate, that’s a frankly derisory offer.
From Liverpool’s perspective, it has one of the best players in the world on it hands. To that end, the $332m offered by Al-Hilal to PSG for Kylian Mbappé (New York Times) is the starting point.
Naturally, the significant age difference would mean Liverpool could not hold out for this sum. But it would expect to be fairly compensated for a player who has more time left to run on his contract, and who would need to be replaced within a matter of days.
Clearly, that kind of offer will not be forthcoming. Salah remains pivotal to Liverpool, and only ridiculous figures should even make the club think twice.
