Having seen Liverpool reject an £150m bid for Mohamed Salah last week, Al-Ittihad are expected to test the Reds’ resolve once again before the Saudi transfer window closes.
iNews report the Middle Eastern side will up their offer to a world-record £215m, though Liverpool remain adamant they will resist any last-ditch attempt from Al-Ittihad to sign the Egyptian before their September 7 transfer deadline.
The Reds consider the matter closed, even if the Saudi outfit do not. But regardless of whether an improved bid is actually placed or not this week, a Salah switch to the Gulf State now does feel like a matter of when rather than if.
Yet with Al-Ittihad making their first bid on the eve of European football’s transfer deadline day, this first pursuit was always destined to end in failure – providing Salah did not force the matter. Now unable to replace the Egyptian until January if they did accept an improved offer, it is not in Liverpool’s interests to sell up at this time.
In truth, having won every major honour there is to win at Anfield, few would begrudge the 31-year-old a future return to the Middle East. He is the most high-profile Muslim player in world football, after all, with it understandable why such a transfer would appeal to both player and the Saudi Pro League.
Meanwhile, with Liverpool selling Fabinho to Al-Ittihad for £40m earlier this summer and Egypt team-mate Ahmed Hegazi already on the books, Salah already had two team-mates at the club who can offer a real insight into what to expect.
However, it hasn’t been all roses at Al-Ittihad, who are reigning Saudi Pro League champions but currently sit third in the table, so far this season, with the fortunes of two of their high-profile, big-money foreign players perhaps acting as a warning to the Reds’ Egyptian King.
Firstly, Karim Benzema. The Real Madrid legend joined the Saudi club on a free transfer this summer, but reports in the Gulf State suggest he already has a strained relationship with his manager, former Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat claimed last month that Santo has made it clear that Benzema does not suit his style of play, and that he didn’t actually want the Frenchman to join the club. Meanwhile, the striker is said to already feel ‘discomfort’ at the club and believes he is being treated in an unprofessional manner by his manager.
The captaincy was also a source of disagreement between the pair, after Santo initially rejected Benzema’s request to be Al-Ittihad captain – despite it reportedly being agreed as part of his transfer negotiations. With last season’s skipper, Hegazi, not registered after being ruled out for the season with an ACL injury, club legend Romarinho initially wore the armband for the club’s first two games of the Saudi Pro League season despite the Frenchman’s presence in the starting XI.
However, Benzema has been captain for Al-Ittihad’s last three games, suggesting, on this occasion, that player power has won out, having started alongside Romarinho throughout, and scoring both of his two goals for the club while donning the armband. One can only speculate whether the presence of Egypt captain Salah could prompt further squabbles over who should be the club’s skipper.
Elsewhere, despite only joining Al-Ittihad in July, Jota’s future remains the subject of speculation. The Portuguese joined the Middle Eastern club in a £25m move from Celtic, but is yet to start for the club in the Saudi Pro League.
Even before Al-Ittihad were being linked with a move for Salah, it was being widely reported that they already wanted to offload Jota. Meanwhile, it has since been suggested that he could be sacrificed to make room for the Egyptian if the club were successful in their efforts to sign him from Liverpool.
Speaking back in August, Saudi journalist Waleed Al Farraj claimed that the club’s hierarchy are keen to get rid of Jota just a month after his arrival because he ‘does not serve the team.’
“I heard that Jota will not continue with the team,” said Farraj. “Yes, the club paid €30 million for him, but the club found that he does not serve the team at the moment.
“Ittihad’s interests come first. I am happy to have Karim Benzema in the centre-forward position, but he lacks playing alongside world-class attacking wingers. But in that way, absolutely not.”
One month and Jota remains part of the Al-Ittihad side, even if on the fringes. Scoring his first goal for the club off the bench against Al-Wehda last week, he then made a 30-minute substitute appearance in the 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal last Friday.
The Athletic report that he does remain part of Santo’s vision, despite his limited role, with the Portuguese wanting to field his compatriot on the opposite wing to Salah as he looks to switch a 4-4-2 diamond formation to a system with wingers. But that doesn’t change the fact that Jota continues to be linked with an exit, and that Al-Ittihad would need to offload one overseas player to make room for the Egyptian – in line with the Saudi Pro League’s player registration rules.
Admittedly, Salah would be the jewel in the crown if Al-Ittihad were to sign him. But both Benzema and Jota’s experiences so far demonstrate that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
