Al-Ittihad are facing multiple obstacles if they really wish to sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool before the Saudi transfer window closes.
While the European transfer window closed for the majority of nations on September 1, Saudi Pro League sides have until September 7 to wrap up their incoming business. And having seen an £150m verbal offer rejected by Liverpool on the eve of the Reds’ deadline day, Al-Ittihad are expected to make an improved offer this week.
For what it’s worth, Liverpool are adamant they will resist a last-ditch attempt from the Middle Eastern side to lure the Egyptian away despite suggestions that their next bid could be worth more than £200m. Of course, the Saudi Pro League would still need to approve any such bid.
But hypothetically, even if the Reds did decide to sell, overlooking their inability to sign a replacement until January, Al-Ittihad would still have one big issue in their squad that they would need to solve first.
Saudi Pro League clubs are currently only allowed to register a total of eight foreign players in their squads over the course of the season. Al-Ittihad already boast nine such players, with former captain Ahmed Hegazi already unregistered after being ruled out for the majority of the season with an ACL injury.
The Athletic report that Al-Ittihad are also in the market for a replacement for the centre-back, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos and Paraguay and Palmeiras captain Gustavo Gomez both on the radar, having already missed out on free agent Sergio Ramos. Meanwhile, Sky Sports report that they are also extremely interested in West Ham United’s Nayef Aguerd.
If Al-Ittihad were to sign two further overseas players, they would need to move on or, at least drop, two of their current eight-man contingent. They have signed four such players this summer in the form of N’Golo Kante, and Karim Benzema on free transfers, Jota from Celtic for £25m, and Liverpool legend Fabinho in a £40m deal.
For the record, reports in Saudi Arabia have suggested that the club already wants to move on Jota after just a couple of months, with the Portuguese yet to start in the Saudi Pro League so far this season.
Meanwhile, their remaining four overseas players are Brazilian forward Romarinho, who is a club legend having scored 104 goals in 192 appearances for the club since joining them in 2018, former Brazil international goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe, who remains their first-choice shot-stopper, attacking midfielder Igor Coronado, who has been an ever-present this season and is their second-leading goalscorer, and striker Abderrazak Hamdallah, who was the leading goalscorer in the Saudi Pro League with 21 goals last season as they won the title and whose five goals is only bettered by Cristiano Ronaldo so far this season.
When broken down like that, it perhaps explains why Al-Ittihad bosses would favour offloading Jota over Romarinho, who started the season as captain before Benzema was handed the armband, Coronado, who is out-performing the Portuguese, and the prolific Hamdallah. Meanwhile, were Grohe make way, that would create further issues with needing a new goalkeeper.
Of course, if Al-Ittihad are given the nod that they can sign Salah, they will find a way. The Egyptian is the most high-profile Muslim footballer in the world, and would be the star player in the Saudi Pro League, ahead of even Ronaldo, if he made the move.
Consequently, one of their current overseas players would be discarded without much thought to make room for Liverpool’s talisman. They have already moved on Egypt international Tarek Hamed, who signed for Damac on Monday, just one year into a two year-deal to make room for this summer’s star signings.
So while Al-Ittihad’s current number of overseas players would not stop them moving for Salah, it still leaves them with a dilemma they would have to solve one way or another before the Saudi transfer window closes. With two days until that September 7 deadline, with a transfer for the Egyptian already looking increasingly-unlikely, they are running out of time.
