Liverpool have received and rejected their first serious offer from Al-Ittihad for Mohamed Salah, a £100m fee rising to a staggering £150m with add-ons.
The offer from the Saudi Pro League club was made in a phone call on Thursday night to Mike Gordon, president of Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group, and immediately rejected.
Gordon reaffirmed Liverpool’s stance that Salah is not for sale although Al-Ittihad are expected to continue their pursuit of the Egypt international until the Saudi transfer window closes later this month.
Salah, 31, has two years remaining on the £350,000-a-week contract he signed with Liverpool only last year. His agent, Ramy Abbas, has stated the contract would not have been signed had Salah planned to leave and his client remains committed to Anfield.
Speaking on Friday morning, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp claimed he was unaware of any bids for his star forward but admitted the threat from the Saudi Pro League to the European transfer market had to be taken seriously.
Klopp, who has lost Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to lucrative offers from the Middle East this summer, said: “I don’t know how long it will stay like that but the next two weeks will show how much of a challenge it is because, whatever happens then, no one can react any more. That is something Uefa or Fifa should have an eye on because we all have to protect the game.
“We are still a bit surprised by the activity from Saudi Arabia. I don’t know where it will lead to but it feels rather like a threat or a concern than not. I don’t see how we really deny it. The difference in contracts [being offered] is so big it will cause conflict 100%.”
