Liverpool have rejected a £150 million bid for Mohamed Salah. Club sources say the Al-Ittihad offer was given no consideration and the matter is closed so far as they are concerned.
The Al-Ittihad bid amounted to a complete package of £150 million, with an initial £100 million followed by add-ons.
The reality for Liverpool is they need their assets on the pitch to fulfil this year’s objectives, not a fortune in the bank. Put simply, with only hours of the transfer window open, Salah is irreplaceable so there is no price that can make Liverpool blink.
Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, meanwhile disagrees with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin’s claim that the Saudi Pro League is no threat to the stability of European football.
Ceferin dismissed the idea the Saudi recruitment drive will undermine the strength of the traditional Euro superpowers, but Klopp believes the coming days will be troubling for clubs trying to resist lucrative offers for their stars. Although the European transfer window closes on Friday, Saudi clubs have until September 7 to register new players.
Klopp says rather than dismissing the “threat”, Uefa should see the way the wind is blowing and seek a change to the rules, preventing bids after the window closes.
“That is something Uefa or whoever should have an eye on because we all have to protect the game,” he said. “I don’t know where it will lead to but it feels rather like a threat or a concern than not because I can’t see how we really deny it in these moments. What can we do?
“But we have to make sure the European leagues stay as strong as they are so we have to change laws, adapt laws.”
That said, it does not appear that Klopp expects to be watching many Saudi league games in the near future.
“I love all my players who play now in Saudi, but I didn’t watch them yet,” he said. “I don’t know where, so it is not like it distracts me from my watching habits.
“We are still a bit surprised by the activity from Saudi Arabia, I didn’t watch it yet but that doesn’t mean I never will.”
Ceferin used the examples of Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland to suggest the most wanted footballers are not interested in a move to Saudi.
But Klopp responded: “I don’t know 100 per cent yet, but I don’t think the Haaland and Mbappé example is a really good one.
“They are that young and earn already, so that is a different thing. I don’t know how stable it is and I think it will show how much of a challenge it is because whatever happens there [after the European transfer window shuts], no one can react anymore.”
It would appear there are no greater admirers of Liverpool’s recruitment policy in world football than the Saudi Pro League clubs.
As well as the three ex-Kop idols who have made the move since the summer (Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho), at least six others have been the subject of informal approaches. Even older club legends such as Georginio Wijnaldum have agreed to move to Al-Ettifaq, where he will reunite with Henderson and be coached by Anfield hero Steven Gerrard.
Some will see that as a compliment to Liverpool’s talent pool, the club obviously blessed with attractive footballers – even those past their peak.
In the case of the more unwanted advances, most notably the pursuit of Salah, it has the potential to remain a distraction until the Saudi transfer window shuts.
Source: The Telegraph
BDST: 2038 HRS, SEP 01, 2023
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