Liverpool have rejected an offer of up to 175 million euros from Saudi club Al-Ittihad for Egypt striker Mohamed Salah, media in England said on Friday.
The Athletic newspaper first reported the verbal offer made to Liverpool manager Mike Gordon on Thursday night. ‘Worth over £100m plus significant bonus’,
Sky Sports, and specifically the BBC, then specified that these bonuses could reach up to £50 million, bringing the total amount of the potential transaction to £150 million, or around 175 million euros.
The media were quoted as saying Liverpool, keen to keep their 31-year-old striker under contract until June 2025, had rejected the offer.
The transfer market ends on Friday evening in England, days before it closes in Saudi Arabia. In the event of departures, the Reds can hardly replace their attacking star, who arrived from Rome in 2017.
For Jurgen Klopp, the contract in Saudi Arabia is a problem
Coach Jurgen Klopp tried to dismiss questions about Salah at a press conference on Friday morning, suggesting no offer had been made. “Not that I know of, but honestly it doesn’t make any sense”He said.
The German technician closed the transfer door last week, and “the situation remains the same”, he assured on Friday. ” we can not do (sell), i want to go to sleep nothing else to say “.
However, he admitted that the power of attraction for players was too strong considering the salaries offered in the Saudi Pro League.
” What can we do? Say no? We can say that, but there is a difference between contracts here and contracts there. They are so big that it certainly 100% creates problems. »
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Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in the championship through the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF. For example, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho left Liverpool this summer for the Saudi Pro League, in which Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Sadio Mane now play.
Al-Ittihad, the club which is working to bring Salah, has already signed French midfielder N’Golo Kante and his compatriot Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner.