Liverpool braced for Mohamed Salah offer – but will they let him go?
Liverpool are expecting to receive an offer for Mohamed Salah, with Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad lining up a mega-money bid for the Anfield icon.
Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas Issa insisted earlier this summer that his star client will not be leaving Liverpool after signing a new deal with the club last summer.
Yet the scale of the financial offer expected to be presented to Salah could change the direction of this story quickly, with former Premier League striker Jan Aage Fjortoft making a bold claim that Salah will leave Liverpool imminently.
Fjortoft has strong contacts in football and has led the way by breaking some major transfer stories in recent years, with his comments raising plenty of eyebrows.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp made his position on the Salah rumours clear last Friday, as he insisted no sale would be considered.
“We don’t have an offer, Mo Salah is still a Liverpool player, obviously for all the things we do, he’s essential and will be. There’s nothing there. If there would be something, the answer would be no,” he declared.
“My life philosophy is I think about a problem when I have it. At the moment, there’s absolutely nothing. I said already if there is something, the answer would be no.”
Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge offered up an alternative view, as he suspects Salah will leave for Saudi Arabia either this summer or a year from now.
"Salah could be one of the next big names to take the crazy cash on offer in the Saudi league - but that would not be my biggest concern,” Aldridge told sundayworld.com.
"Liverpool have already lost Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to the Saudi league and Salah is the kind of mega name they will want.
"Liverpool's star man will be 32 next summer and if he is offered £1million-a-week and the club get a good fee for him, I can see it happening.
The concern for Liverpool and their manager Klopp will be that Salah’s future remains unresolved beyond this Friday’s Premier League transfer deadline, with Saudi clubs still permitted to sign players into September.
"It's new, it's challenging for everybody and we have to learn to deal with it,” said Klopp of the Saudi league, after a summer that saw Jordan Henderson and Fabinho quit Liverpool to take the cash on offer in Saudi Arabia.
"The authorities should make clear that if you want to be part of the system, do your business at the same time as the others at least."
If Salah were to leave after the transfer deadline in England, Liverpool would not be able to sign a replacement until January at the earliest.
