Mohamed Salah has sent a clear message to Liverpool as the countdown to Saudi transfer continues

Speculation continues over Mohamed Salah, but Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp insist he will stay

For his part, Jürgen Klopp considers the matter closed, as can also be seen in the aftermath of Sunday’s thrilling and final break against Newcastle; a game in which Salah got the winning assist from the hero of the two goals, Darwin Nunez. “Isn’t the story over yet? It is for me,” Klopp told Sky Sports on Sunday.

It’s been a busy few days of layoffs and rejections for the Liverpool manager when it comes to Salah’s future. After initially trying to end the talks during Friday’s press conference by insisting the number 11 was “100 per cent committed”, the manager was also asked about the subject in his pre-match chat with Sky Sports. “Mo is a super experienced player and is 100% committed to us here, to the club. No, honestly, I’m not worried about him leaving,” Klopp said.

The public message is clear: Mo Salah is not for sale. The private remarks were even clearer behind the scenes, although the nature of the Saudi transfer deadline – which is set to expire on September 7 – is a cause for concern in Liverpool and across European football.

After Saudi media reported a ‘Monday deadline’ passed without incident, speculation continued on Wednesday over an ‘incredible offer’ for the club and player. Liverpool insist the situation is unchanged and that while there are a number of figures that Saudi pro league champions Al-Ittihad are ready to bid for Salah, they have yet to land at the Reds negotiating table.

Salah himself trained as usual at the AXA Center on Wednesday, completing his pre-Aston Villa routines with minimal fuss after enjoying a day off on Monday and spending a few hours at a museum in London.

If he is a player who, as we have been told, is about to leave, then he is definitely leaving too late. Contrary to speculation that Salah is making it clear he wants to leave after six of his most successful years, his behavior says a lot about the situation.

Sources close to Salah declined to engage in speculation and, although the player’s representative ended initial talks of a move earlier this month, agent Ramy Abbas has remained silent in recent days. But with just days to go from the end of the time window from Liverpool’s perspective, a sale – no matter how big the transfer fee – would so far be seen as rather bleak by public opinion at the club and its owners, as the global fan base goes.

There is of course a theory that the Ittihad know very well that they will not be able to sign one of the most famous footballers in the world in the last hours of the European transfer window, and that they are doing practically every preparations for transfer. in a year instead.

By then, Salah will be 32 and in the final year of a contract which currently makes him Liverpool’s highest-paid player of all time. Then the club will make a decision. Right now, that seems like a much easier decision. And interestingly, many of the Saudi Pro League collective bargaining agreements were made public this summer before they were even remotely advanced, reinforcing the notion that league officials as a whole love to talk to friendly journalists who are hungry for the latest updates long before anything concrete develops.

Middle Eastern sources who have dealt with Saudi Pro League teams this summer told ECHO of the challenge of working with club personnel who “talk about everything” and want to “create something out of nothing”. That may explain why speculation about Salah has refused to subside, despite Klopp’s repeated claims.

Add to that the fact that Luis Diaz, Alisson Becker, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez have been named in relation to shock moves in the Middle East lately after seeing Jordan Henderson and Fabinho move to Al Ettifaq and Ittihad respectively, and it’s fair to assume that the Saudi Pro League apparently sees Liverpool as either a weak player or a more malleable club in their transfer ambitions.

Klopp has never wished to keep a willing player at the club against his wishes, and with wages on offer enough to make the eyes of European football stars water, it’s easy to see why the Reds are watching. because it’s easier to do business with. Liverpool would effectively be in trouble if their big stars manage to turn their heads before key club decision-makers have had a chance to reject official offers. The Reds are not alone on this front across Europe, but it seems this is the new reality they need to get used to in this curious and changing landscape of the world game.

However, this is a deal they cannot accept. As the most important member of a five-man front line who has the firepower to transform Liverpool into something special this season, the departure of the ‘Egyptian King’ is simply unthinkable.