Mohamed Salah to Saudi Arabia: ‘£480m contract offer’, Liverpool stance, Jurgen Klopp verdict

The Saudi Pro League transfer window closes today (Thursday, September 7) with Al-Ittihad prepared to make one last attempt to sign Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.

The Reds rejected a bid worth up to £150million last week, as they swiftly knocked back what would have been a record Premier League sale - surpassing the £142million deal which they agreed for the departure of Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona in January 2018.

The Telegraph reports Al-Ittihad - who have already done business with the Reds this summer after agreeing a £40million move for defensive midfielder Fabinho - are prepared to offer a world record £200million as their transfer deadline approaches on Thursday.

However, Liverpool are set to reject any offers as they stick by their stance which is that Salah is not for sale this summer. The winger scored in the club’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa and appeared unbothered by the links to Saudi Arabia.

He has been involved in at least one goal in every game so far this season, assisting Luis Diaz at Chelsea, scoring against Bournemouth, setting up Darwin Nunez for the dramatic win at Newcastle United and netting in front of the Kop last weekend.

Footmercato report Salah will not leave Anfield this year despite being offered a mega-money contract which is worth between £400m-£480m over three years.

Following Liverpool’s win over Villa, manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed the club’s not for sale stance would remain the same heading into the final days of the Saudi Pro League transfer window.

The Reds boss is adamant no amount of money will tempt Liverpool to sell, with Salah under contract for another two years. Salah himself has also told his teammates he has no desire to leave the club.

Summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai said Salah told the Liverpool dressing room: “He wants to stay, he wants to be here and be with us. We are really happy – we need people in the team like him.”

Klopp added: “He didn’t tell me 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.

“He is completely here and if Dom said that, fine. Mo doesn’t have to come into my office and tell me ‘by the way, boss … [I’m not going]’. For me it wasn’t a subject for one second, to be honest, besides the questions.”

He continued: “Nobody came to me and told me something could happen or whatever. I’m pretty sure I would have got a call but I didn’t. And Mo didn’t look for a second like he thought about anything else other than about Aston Villa. He has unbelievable numbers but it’s not a surprise that he has the numbers.

“And he had chances on top of that, and involved in creating and setting up and all these kind of things. He’s a world-class player, no doubt about that. And I’m really pleased he is in my team.”

Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, has also made clear the player has no desire to leave Liverpool. He wrote on Twitter on August 7 following earlier transfer links: “If we considered leaving LFC this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract last summer. Mohamed remains committed to LFC.”

Since his arrival from Roma in the summer of 2017, Salah has played 309 times for Liverpool and scored 188 goals while providing 81 assists.