Liverpool have to accept a new bid for Mohamed Salah if it reaches a total worth of £200million, claims former England striker Darren Bent. The pundit says Jurgen Klopp’s side can cope until January at least if they sell their talismanic star in the next few days.
Liverpool rejected a huge verbal offer for Salah from Al-Ittihad on Friday morning. The Saudi Pro League club were prepared to pay up to £150m for the 31-year-old.
The Reds do not want to sell, especially with the transfer window in the Premier League shutting at 11pm. Saudi clubs have until next Thursday to finalise any incomings so could still attempt to sign Salah.
Al-Ittihad are set to return with a new offer and are reportedly prepared to pay £200m. Bent says Liverpool must accept that offer if it does surface.
He said on talkSPORT: “If you get to £200m then I think Liverpool have to take it. People know that I’m a huge, huge Salah fan. He is one of the best we’ve ever seen in this country, that’s fact.
“Look at his goal record. People said he was awful last year and he [still] got 19 goals and 12 assists. £200m gets him and I get it.”
Bent says there is no way Liverpool would have been able to replace Salah with one signing, even if the window was open. He thinks they should take the money now and prepare to bring in up to four players with the funds across the next couple of windows.
He added: “There’s no point if you’re a football club, it doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got, unless he walks out the door and [Kylian] Mbappe comes in, he is relatively impossible to replace. Like [Harry] Kane leaves Tottenham, you’re not going to find another Harry Kane. Salah leaves Liverpool…
“But with £200m Liverpool will be fine until January, maybe even for a whole season. But with that £200m in their pocket, it gives them time now to identify what’s going on.
“You might not buy one player with this, you might go and buy three or four players with this. So all of a sudden your squad’s stronger.
“Liverpool would love to hold onto him and I get that because for me he’d be in my all-time Premier League XI. But £200m on the table, that is a lot of money for a 31-year-old as well by the way.”
Bent believes Salah’s arrival would be by far the biggest in the Saudi Pro League so far and take the division to new heights. He said: “They’ve got a lot of superstars out there but I feel like he’s the one that they want. He’s the real poster boy.
“You’ve got Neymar but when you look at what Salah’s done in the Premier League compared to what Neymar’s done in Paris, there’s no comparison. He’s the one, if they get him, bang – they’re in business.”
