Liverpool might have Mohamed Salah all to themselves with Saudi clubs no longer interested.Yes, that's right. The empire of clubs that make up the Saudi Pro League, backed by the endless Public Invest...
Liverpool might have Mohamed Salah all to themselves with Saudi clubs no longer interested.
Yes, that's right. The empire of clubs that make up the Saudi Pro League, backed by the endless Public Investment Fund (PIF), is now incredibly likely to abandon their plans to sign the Egyptian.
This is per a new report which claims that Liverpool's resolution to Salah's public outcry looks to have been sufficient in rebuilding the relationship with the player. Hopes of the winger looking for an exit strategy are in tatters and the Reds might have to put up with the all-time great for a bit longer.
It's such a bewildering update to the long-running transfer saga that it's almost too good to be true.
The Saudis have moved past Salah
According to The I Paper, certain clubs in the Middle East have lost interest in the 33-year-old.
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In their report, it said: "A senior official at a top Saudi club, who wished to remain anonymous, believes a signing like Salah, while being preferential, is not the potential difference-marker as it would have been before.
"'I would say the top teams here, like Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr would get into the Premier League top six in England with their current squads, top four in Spain. Higher in Italy... Look at the players we have, in their prime. Ruben Neves, Joao Cancelo, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Kingsley Coman, Joao Felix - all elite European players who turned down top European clubs.
"Salah would be great, but the way we are growing our scouting networks, analytics, ability to attract younger players - Al Hilal just signed a 22-year-old Brazilian for £40m from Benfica - we are almost there in our development. This must remain our focus."
As such, the signing of Salah has been put on the back-burner. The intent that was showed a few weeks ago, at the height of the speculation around his future, has dissipated into no willingness to entertain the Egyptian anymore because they have enough 'elite' talents in their ranks already.
It's genuinely an astonishing report. The Saudis are likely to treat Africa's greatest ever player just like anyone else. One sub-par season, where the four-time Premier League golden boot winner has nine goals and four assists from 24 appearances for club and country, and he's no longer wanted.
For context, this is a player who - albeit is nearing the end of his career - has the same attacking record for club and country as Arsenal's 24-year-old 'starboy' Bukayo Saka, in five less matches.
Of course, for Liverpool fans, this update is extraordinarily positive. Salah is contracted until 2027 and his performance against Brighton before he left for AFCON was a gentle reminder of what he's still capable of doing. When he returns in a few weeks, he'll be a huge boost to Arne Slot's squad.
Ideally, the Reds will have wanted to squeeze out as much as they possibly can from him before he decides to hang up his boots and potentially considers a move to Saudi Arabia. But now that their attitude towards him has tempered, we might begin to see the winger alter his plans accordingly.
After all, if "the focus on foreign big stars coming here [to Saudi Arabia] to finish their careers has almost gone", then Liverpool might as well try to block out the constant speculation and extend Salah's stay on Merseyside for as long as possible, so long as he can deliver to the standard we need him to. There are more records to be broken and more trophies will enhance his legacy.
Category: General Sports
