Al Ittihad are heating up their transfer pursuit of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah – and the Reds have already identified their perfect replacement if he leaves the club.
At present, Liverpool’s stance – publicly stated by manager Jurgen Klopp – is that Salah is not for sale, with the club desperate to keep hold of him beyond the current transfer window.
The Egyptian has made no comment on his future, but his agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, took to Twitter earlier this month to confirm that Salah is fully committed to Liverpool.
There is no indication that, even if a big-money offer does come in from Al Ittihad, Salah would accept it, given the fact he signed a three-year contract with Liverpool last summer and remains in the prime of his career in Europe.
According to CBS Sports, the Saudi Pro League side are preparing a bid of around £130 million to sign the 31-year-old, and plan to make him one of the world’s highest-paid players.
Meanwhile, Liverpool appear to be setting up a contingency plan should, from their perspective, the unthinkable happens that would see Salah leave Anfield.
Liverpool ‘identify Mo Salah replacement’
According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, the Reds have identified Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi and Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane as potential replacements for Salah.
A move for Sane would arrive with the advantage of the player having Premier League experience with Manchester City.
Adeyemi, meanwhile, is just 21 but has already impressed during spells with RB Leipzig and Dortmund.
But their top target is said to be Juventus star Federico Chiesa, who has been consistently linked with a move to the Reds during the current window.
After signing for Juve on loan from Fiorentina in 2020, the Italy international provided 15 goal contributions in his debut season for the club.
But he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in January 2022, and missed eight months of action as a result.
He made 21 Serie A appearances last term, with the majority of those from the bench, as he worked his way back to full match sharpness.
Chiesa has started this season well, scoring in Juve’s 3-0 win over Udinese on the opening day of the Serie A campaign.
His injury struggles have led to a dip in value from €70 million to €40 million, as per Transfermarkt, but Juve are likely to still command a premium for one of their key assets as he returns to his pre-injury form levels.
ota joined Nuno Espirito Santo’s side from Celtic for £25million in July, but the 24-year-old has had a tough start to life in the Middle East, with reports claiming he could leave Al Ittihad just a month after his arrival.
Speaking back in August, Saudi journalist Waleed Al Farraj stated that the Saudi club’s hierarchy are keen to get rid of the winger because he “does not serve the team”.
However, the Portuguese forward is now reportedly “key” to Nuno’s vision at the club, so long as they sign Liverpool’s Salah.
That’s according to The Athletic, who state: “Jota was initially signed with a view to switching to Espirito Santo’s favoured system with wingers, but has so far played with a narrow diamond.
“Salah and Jota are ‘key to that vision’ but a lack of headway with Salah has proved troubling. That means Al Ittihad “either find an alternative target for the left-wing position or stick to their current narrow set-up which leaves them with a Jota question to answer.”
Salah was the subject of an eye-watering £215 million bid fro Al Ittihad on Tuesday, according to The Sun, with the Saudi Pro League transfer window due to close on Thursday September 7.
Although Jurgen Klopp has continually insisted Salah is not for sale this summer, confirming the 31-year-old was committed to Liverpool in his post-match press conference after the Reds’ 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
“I never had any doubt about his commitment to this club,” Klopp said.
“You can’t imagine how much fuss the world has made but how calm we are with it. He is our player and wants to play here. He didn’t tell me [he wants to stay] but he didn’t have to. He speaks with his training and performances and behaviour.
“We had meetings this week, and the meetings were not about what we did in the past, it was about what we will do in the future. Mo was with the players’ [leadership] committee and had his moments where he was talking and it was nothing like ‘by the way, this is only until next week’ or whatever.”
The league submitted a bid totalling £150 million for the Egyptian winger prior to deadline day in England, with Liverpool promptly turning over the offer down.
Reports claimed that they were set to return with a bid of over £200 million before their window closed on Thursday, but that didn’t happen.
But according to Middle East sources (via Daily Mirror), Al Ittihad will return in January – and are confident of securing the deal if the Reds aren’t in title contention by the time the new year rolls around.
On Thursday it emerged that Demarai Gray has left Everton to join Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £8million.
The 27-year-old Jamaica winger has signed a four-year deal with the Saudi outfit, who are managed by Steven Gerrard and include England midfielder Jordan Henderson, former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, Scotland defender Jack Hendry and striker Moussa Dembele among their ranks.
And Al Ettifaq announced the signing by making a thinly veiled dig at rivals Al Ittihad’s failed attempt to sign Salah.
It had been widely claimed that Al Ittihad are ready to lodge a £200million bid for Salah ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline.
However reports in France have since claimed Salah will not leave Liverpool this year, despite being offered a contract worth between $500million and $600million (£400million-£480million) over three years.
Al Ettifaq were quick to mock Al Ittihad’s fortunes when announcing Gray via a video published on social media.
In an arcade game menu-style animation, as seen below, Liverpool were the first club selected. Indeed, the controller hovers over Alisson Becker and Luis Diaz before eventually landing on Salah.
However, when attempting to select the Egyptian a pop-up of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp appears with the word “NO!” in red block capitals, in reference to the German’s insistence the 31-year-old is not for sale.
Moving on, it then scrolls across to Aston Villa and former Liverpool star Phillipe Coutinho, who was signed by Gerrard for the Midlands side last summer.
Finally, the animation settles on Everton, only for Al Ettifaq to also mock rivals Al Shabab and transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. The Italian had given the “here we go” treatment to reports Gray was set to sign for Al Shabab last month only for the transfer to ultimately fall through due to the club’s new board rejecting the already-agreed-upon move.
The video concludes with Gray finally being picked as an Al Ettifaq player, appearing in the club’s green home strip with the words “signing successful” cast across the screen.
Salah’s agent has previously dismissed talk of a move to Saudi Arabia but has not responded following the latest links with the burgeoning league.
“Mohamed remains committed to Liverpool,” agent Ramy Abbas Issa wrote in an X post on 7 August.
“If we considered leaving Liverpool this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract last summer.”
Salah has started all four of Liverpool’s games this season, with Klopp’s side having accumulated 10 points in their opening four games.
Topics: Football, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Pro League, Mohamed Salah, Everton, Liverpool, Premier League
On Thursday it emerged that Demarai Gray has left Everton to join Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £8million.
The 27-year-old Jamaica winger has signed a four-year deal with the Saudi outfit, who are managed by Steven Gerrard and include England midfielder Jordan Henderson, former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, Scotland defender Jack Hendry and striker Moussa Dembele among their ranks.
And Al Ettifaq announced the signing by making a thinly veiled dig at rivals Al Ittihad’s failed attempt to sign Salah.
It had been widely claimed that Al Ittihad are ready to lodge a £200million bid for Salah ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline.
However reports in France have since claimed Salah will not leave Liverpool this year, despite being offered a contract worth between $500million and $600million (£400million-£480million) over three years.
Al Ettifaq were quick to mock Al Ittihad’s fortunes when announcing Gray via a video published on social media.
In an arcade game menu-style animation, as seen below, Liverpool were the first club selected. Indeed, the controller hovers over Alisson Becker and Luis Diaz before eventually landing on Salah.
However, when attempting to select the Egyptian a pop-up of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp appears with the word “NO!” in red block capitals, in reference to the German’s insistence the 31-year-old is not for sale.
Moving on, it then scrolls across to Aston Villa and former Liverpool star Phillipe Coutinho, who was signed by Gerrard for the Midlands side last summer.
Finally, the animation settles on Everton, only for Al Ettifaq to also mock rivals Al Shabab and transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. The Italian had given the “here we go” treatment to reports Gray was set to sign for Al Shabab last month only for the transfer to ultimately fall through due to the club’s new board rejecting the already-agreed-upon move.
The video concludes with Gray finally being picked as an Al Ettifaq player, appearing in the club’s green home strip with the words “signing successful” cast across the screen.
Salah’s agent has previously dismissed talk of a move to Saudi Arabia but has not responded following the latest links with the burgeoning league.
“Mohamed remains committed to Liverpool,” agent Ramy Abbas Issa wrote in an X post on 7 August.
“If we considered leaving Liverpool this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract last summer.”
Salah has started all four of Liverpool’s games this season, with Klopp’s side having accumulated 10 points in their opening four games.
Topics: Football, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Pro League, Mohamed Salah, Everton, Liverpool, Premier League
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