Where else to start but with Mohamed Salah? CBS say Al Ittihad are preparing to make a bid worth up to £129m for the Egyptian forward – though only £86m of that would be guaranteed with the rest divided into add-ons.
Rumours have circled the Reds’ all-time top Premier League goalscorer for much of the summer, despite both his own agent’s and Jurgen Klopp’s claims that Salah is not for sale.
According to James Benge of CBS Sport, Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad have made Salah their top target before their transfer window closes on 20 September and are willing to shatter the Saudi transfer record to land the 31-year-old with an expected €150m (£129m) bid.
Benge’s report adds, however, that the deal would be made up of around £86m in guaranteed payments to Liverpool with a further £43m coming in performance-related add-ons – not all of which would be “easily achievable”.
Al Ittihad want to offer Salah a salary package comparable to Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo in order to convince him to swap Merseyside for Saudi Arabia, with the pair earning around £170m per year including bonuses and endorsements.
The bid, if it is officially submitted, will almost certainly be rejected by Liverpool.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League win over Newcastle United, Klopp played down claims that Salah could be sold this summer.
He said: “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. 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.”
The Liverpool boss reiterated his stance after the game, pouring cold water over claims that the 31-year-old is on his way out of the club. When asked by Sky Sports why the story hadn’t quite gone away, Klopp simply quipped: “For me, it has!”
Back at the start of August, Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas, also reaffirmed his client’s commitment to Liverpool, indicating that the Egyptian wouldn’t have signed a new contract last summer if he saw his future elsewhere.
He wrote: “If we considered leaving LFC this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract last summer. Mohamed remains committed to LFC.”
