Al Itthad’s mega-money offer for Mohamed Salah could cause chaos in Liverpool’s club offices.
talkSPORT understands that the Saudi Pro League champions have made an offer for the Reds star player, as they want him to spearhead their Club World Cup challenge.
As it stands, Liverpool are unlikely to sell their European record scorer, but as this summer has proved, Saudi sides won’t take no for an answer.
The 31-year-old Egyptian would be made the league’s, and therefore the world’s, highest paid player, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is on an eye-watering deal at Al Nassr.
But what’s in it for Liverpool? Well that was the cause of much debate, with former England and Premier League striker Darren Bent insisting the forward is worth over £150milliom.
“I think it’s going to be touching £150-200million,” the talkSPORT pundit said on Drivetime.
“They can get that money out of the ashtray and Salah can give you a good five years. £100million is nowhere near enough for him, £150million minimum. Maybe £100million next year with a year left.”
talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook added: “We might see a bid go in for Salah that they know will be rejected.
“They know by making that bid it achieves what they want to achieve, it was the same with Kylian Mbappe.
“There was no way he was going to Saudi Arabia and they knew that, that’s why they could offer £250million knowing it would be turned down.
“But, it got us talking, it got media outlets throughout the world talking and it created publicity and grew the brand.”
Such a deal could be detrimental for Liverpool, though, who have already lost defensive midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho this summer, and have so far only replaced them with Wataru Endo from Stuttgart.
Commenting on the Reds’ window, Crook added: “You look at Liverpool’s summer, they lost out on [Moises] Caicedo, they lost out on Romeo Lavia.
“If they were to sell Salah a week before the window closes, that would be a nightmare summer.”
