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It is transfer deadline day and as usual, some late offers come flying in. One of those is an 11th-hour bid from Saudi Pro League Club Al Ittihad for none other than Liverpool’s forward Mo Salah.
According to various sources, the club have received a verbal offer of over £150m from the Saudi Arabian club who have been trying to convince the player and his current club to sign this mega-deal and become part of the newly rich league on the Arabian peninsula. The offer came via phone call to Mike Gordon, the director of Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group. He rejected it straight away.
The fee is said to be an initial £100m with possible add-ons taking the amount to a possible £150m. That is a staggering amount of money, yet nothing new – particularly in this summer’s transfer window. When Liverpool signed Salah in 2017, they paid £36m for him and could quadruple their outlay for him, should they decide to sell him.
The rejected Al-Ittihad offer for Mo Salah was for a total package of £150m. A second offer of £175m is expected, even though #LFC made it clear Salah is not for sale. First bid only verbal. Al-Ittihad sources adamant they will try again.🇪🇬 pic.twitter.com/EJtYs8UPvW
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) September 1, 2023
However, the answer from Liverpool was an immediate “No”. The player is simply too important for Liverpool – both on and off the pitch. In more than 200 games for the Reds, Salah has scored 138 goals. His name offers great marketing value for him and the club.
Liverpool say “No”
For the Merseyside club, the matter is closed, yet not for Al Ittihad. The transfer window for the Saudi Pro League closes only on September 6, while European clubs have only today left to finalise deals. This has led to demands for FIFA or UEFA to step in and regulate this discrepancy.
The manager of Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp has been steadfast in his opinion that Mo Salah is not for sale. He has already lost Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Ittihad and Al-Ettifaq, respectively and seems not keen to lose another player to the financial powerhouse that the Saudi Pro League has become.
Despite the refusal by Liverpool to let Mo Salah go, Al Ittihad are still trying to sign the player and seem to be determined to get his signature. The player has signed a new 3-year contract only last year (2022) that ties him to Liverpool until 2025. He is the highest-paid player in the history of Liverpool. Surely, Al Ittihad will monitor the situation of the player and come back with another offer as Liverpool may want to cash in before the player leaves at the end of his contract.
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