Mo Salah has taken another significant step closer towards a mammoth switch to Saudi Arabia after FIFA introduced a transfer loophole allowing a move to go through sooner than expected – though Ian Wright has begged FSG not to give up on extending the Egyptian’s contract with words that will resonate with every Reds supporter.
The Egyptian king is a free agent at the end of the season and is already eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement to sign for an overseas club of his choosing – a potential departure that would hit Liverpool badly given the fantastic form Salah has been in this season. To date, the 32-year-old star has an incredible 40-goal contributions this season already (23 goals and 17 assists), ensuring he has an involvement for the Reds every 67.25 minutes he has been on the field under Arne Slot’s management.
While Salah has made it clear he is keen to extend his stay at Anfield, the inability of FSG to agree fresh terms with the 32-year-old have left them wide open to his departure. And in a recent update, Salah has admitted he remains some distance apart from agreeing extended terms with FSG.
As a result, trusted reporter Ben Jacobs revealed in great detail on Tuesday how Al-Hilal are growing in confidence that a deal to bring the player to Saudi Arabia can be pulled off, making clear the strong relationship that exists between officials in the country and the Egyptian’s agent, Ramy Abbas.
Now, multiple reports have revealed that a move to Riyadh could go through sooner than expected, and with Al-Hilal due to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer, The FIFA Council have approved regulations for a unique transfer window to take place before the tournament kicks off. That means a move could go through any time between June 1-10 – and a matter of weeks before Salah’s deal at Anfield is officially due to expire.
In light of that, football pundit Wright claims FSG have no time to waste and insists they should bite the bullet and give Salah the contract he wants to remain at Anfield.
“If Liverpool are deliberating over the fact like: ‘Yes he’s having moments at this stage of his career, he’s at that age, should we take a chance?’ I’m going to take a chance,” Wright said on Premier League Productions.
“Because what’s going to happen is that Liverpool are in a progressive mode, they’re in the ascendancy, they’re going to bring in players, so even if he’s there but older, he will still have moments, it’s the kind of money I would spend.”
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The huge wages on offer to Salah in Saudi as star drops exit hint
Sources have revealed to TEAMtalk that there is now a growing fear at Anfield that Salah will move on at the end of the season. And while talks will continue at trying to find common ground, the fact that neither party are close to finding a compromise has left open the scenario that this will indeed be his final season on Merseyside.
It’s also understood that Al-Hilal have presented an offer to Salah’s agent, Abbas, worth £65m over two years – worth a staggering £600,000 a week to the player. Currently on £350,000 a week at Anfield, FSG know they cannot – and would not even attempt – to match such a salary. As a compromise to that offer, Salah is believed to be seeking some £400,000 a week over three years to stay on Merseyside – taking him just shy of his 36th birthday. But even that appears too big an ask for the Reds as it stands.
Just this weekend, Salah provided another update on his future, underlining his ambitions before he leaves and also having named five other teammates who will soon exit Anfield.
“My motivation this year was really to win a trophy and be a big part of winning that trophy, especially the Premier League,” Salah told multiple outlets before Liverpool’s match against Ipswich Town.
“There is still me, Virgil, Trent, Alisson, Joe [Gomez] and Robbo [Andy Robertson], so it’s five or six players left. So I think it’s necessary to win another trophy before we all go.
“I think we need another one. We won almost everything but we won [the Premier League] only once so hopefully we can win it twice. It would be great.”
Salah’s current record for Liverpool reads a goal contribution every 1.12 appearances, while the player recently became the first Reds player in history to break the 50-goal mark in European competition.
Salah has also broken the 20-goal mark in each of his eight seasons at Anfield and discussing his phenomenal numbers, Salah continued: “That is something incredible, something I am very proud of. I worked very hard for that.
“And being also a winger and scoring goals that make a difference in the game is quite hard and people will maybe appreciate it more when they see that in the future.
“It’s quite hard and tricky because sometimes when you do things every day and every year, people just think that it’s not hard. When you do it for six, seven, or eight years, people just say it’s normal to do it, but actually it’s not easy.
“It’s not easy at all because it’s very tricky to find a winger to score like 20 or 30 goals, for eight years in a row. But again, something I’m proud of.”
Salah heir named by Carragher; mammoth Nunez bid rejected
With speculation mounting that Salah could be on his way, FSG and sporting director Richard Hughes have quite rightly been doing their due diligence on would-be successors to the Egyptian on the right side of their attack.
And according to Jamie Carragher, he believes he has unearthed the player that Liverpool would feel is the ideal candidate to come in as his heir.
Another Reds star subject of interest in Saudi Arabia is Darwin Nunez and according to David Ornstein, the Reds have this month rejected a colossal offer for his services – leading his suitors Al Nassr to instead focus on a Bayer Leverkusen hotshot and an Aston Villa star instead.
Elsewhere, the Reds have suffered a monumental blow in their pursuit of Bournemouth star Milos Kerkez after he issued a strong 15-word statement to rule out a move to Anfield.
All 18 Champions League group stage matches will be shown on TNT at the same time in the biggest night of European football in the channel’s history.
It is the first time all 36 qualified teams will be shown on TV at the same time as TNT prepares for the final group stage game, where European heavyweights Manchester City and PSG risk losing out on the knockout stage.
Fans of Liverpool will be hoping to secure an eighth win out of eight, while Aston Villa take on Celtic in the Battle of Britain.
Viewers can watch every minute of every game on TNT Sports. You can get TNT Sports as an add on to your Amazon Prime subscription, or by buying a TNT Sports pass for £32.99. The pass will also allow you to watch the first knockout rounds in February.
The matches will be shown across four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), plus six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
VOTE: What should Mo Salah do next?
The rule change, which allows clubs to sign players on pre-contract agreements six months before their current deal expires, has put Liverpool in a prime position to make a significant addition to their squad.
With the January transfer window fast approaching, the Reds have been urged to act quickly and secure the services of the player in question before other clubs swoop in.
Fans are eagerly anticipating the potential signing and are hopeful that it will provide a much-needed boost to the team as they continue to push for success in both domestic and European competitions.
Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story as Liverpool looks to capitalize on this rule change and secure a game-changing transfer.
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