The Saudi transfer window closes at 10pm UK time on Thursday, with clubs across Europe hoping to avoid any late departures for key players.
Chief among those, of course, is Salah, who has already been the subject of a bid worth up to £150 million from Al-Ittihad.
The initial, verbal offer only guaranteed Liverpool a £100 million fee, with the remaining £50 million in add-ons, but regardless of the structure, the club are not willing to sell.
But there remained a fear that a new bid of £200 million could arrive on Thursday and see Salah leave Anfield with no chance to sign a replacement.
However, according to the Telegraph‘s Mike McGrath, while that package is ready to be presented, Al-Ittihad “fear time is running out.”
“There has been no appetite on Liverpool’s side to engage in what would be a world-record deal,” McGrath explains, and for that reason, “Al-Ittihad believe it is too late to get a deal done before the 10pm deadline.”
Given the scale of the transfer, this makes sense, with just over 12 hours remaining to agree terms, finalise details and ratify paperwork on a deal that would eclipse the fee PSG paid to sign Neymar in 2017.
While Salah has given no firm indication he would prefer to stay at Anfield, Dominik Szoboszlai suggested at the weekend that he had told team-mates he would be.
“It is football, everyone is talking. We are really happy that he has stayed,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“We are of course speaking between each other but he wants to stay, he wants to be here and be with us.”
That is not to say that Salah will not head to Saudi Arabia in the future – in fact, it seems highly likely.
But he is not due to follow Fabinho and Jordan Henderson in sacrificing ambition at elite level to settle for an eye-watering contract playing low-rent football yet.
