According to Sky Sports, Liverpool rejected a £150m offer from Al-Ittihad for Salah on Friday. But the Reds have done little to reduce the Pro League side’s desires to take the 31-year-old to the Middle East. They are even considering increasing the sum to an astronomical £200m.
The £150m bid would have seen Liverpool land a guaranteed £100m plus a colossal £50m in future add-ons. Al-Ittihad are continuing to explore returning with an improved bid with the Pro League window still open. Certain parties are also encouraging Al-Ittihad to move again.
Al-Ittihad are unrelenting in their interest in Salah’s transfer
Liverpool have erected a staunch defence to Al-Ittihad’s interest in securing a transfer to lure Salah to Saudi Arabia. But the Pro League team will roll the dice again all the while they feel encouraged to. Even though Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas, ruled out the switch during August.
Salah would earn a staggering £1.5m-per-week by agreeing to move to Al-Ittihad before the Pro League window shuts. He currently gets £350k-per-week at Anfield after agreeing a new deal until June 2025 last July. The forward would otherwise have been a free agent in 2023.
Souness feels Salah wants to leave Liverpool for Saudi Arabia
Losing Salah would be catastrophic for Liverpool, despite the mammoth sums Al-Ittihad are prepared to pay for his transfer. The 88-cap international is the talisman at Anfield and is an essential part of Jurgen Klopp’s squad. Liverpool can also not replace Salah before January.
But Souness feels Salah wants to leave Liverpool and agree to a transfer to Al-Ittihad as the attacker is ‘flirting’ with the Saudi outfit. Otherwise, the Reds hero believes Abbas or Salah would have come out and publicly distanced themselves from Al-Ittihad’s most recent offer.
“Make no mistake, Salah is flirting with the Saudis,” Souness wrote in a column for the Daily Mail. “Neither he nor one of his representatives has come out and categorically said, ‘We do not want to go to Saudi Arabia at this time’.
“If he wanted to stay, someone could have issued a statement to that effect. He is toying with the idea, at the very least. And I think, deep down, he will feel he should go.
