Fabrizio Romano has reassured Liverpool fans that Mo Salah will almost certainly stay at the club beyond this week’s Saudi Pro League transfer deadline, but warned that the ‘situation could be more dangerous in 2024’.
An initial offer of £150m from Al-Ittihad was swiftly rejected by the Reds, although a follow-up bid of around £200m is reportedly expected in the next couple of days (Evening Standard).
As frequently iterated by Jurgen Klopp, LFC’s stance is that the Egyptian simply isn’t for sale at any price, and they only need to hold firm until Thursday night to ensure that he stays for at least the remainder of this year.
In his Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside, Romano said of Salah: “At the moment Liverpool are confirming that they have no intention to let him go, but the situation could be more dangerous in 2024.
“If Al Ittihad come back for Salah next year, there will be more time for them to put together something to tempt Liverpool, and more time for Liverpool to consider the deal and look for a replacement at the level of Salah.
“For now, it’s unlikely or even impossible, but for 2024 it could be a different story because Al Ittihad are really in love with the idea of signing Salah.”
Thursday night’s Saudi Arabian transfer deadline can’t come quickly enough for Liverpool fans, with speculation over Salah’s future showing no sign of slowing down in the meantime.
Just this morning, the Evening Standard reported that the 31-year-old has delayed teaming up with the Egypt squad in order to consider the prospect of a move to Al-Ittihad, despite Dominik Szoboszlai stating that the attacker told his teammates he’d no intention of leaving Anfield this week (Independent).
For now, Reds supporters would probably settle for the status quo being maintained beyond the Saudi transfer window, albeit with a firm realisation that an exit could well materialise next year.
If Liverpool can hold out until after the Middle Eastern deadline, that’d at least give them scope to look towards prospective replacements in 2024 if Salah decides to move on at that point.
Expect Al-Ittihad to keep trying to entice the Egyptian to Jeddah over the coming months, even if LFC manage to retain him for the first half of this season. Roll on Thursday night and the closure of the Saudi transfer window so that we can all finally relax!
#Ep89 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️