Al-Ittihad are prepared to test Liverpool's desire to keep Mohamed Salah -- and the forward's own commitment to the Premier League giants -- before the end of the transfer window with a lucrative bid. The stance at Anfield, however, is clear. Salah is not for sale.
The Egyptian has long figured prominently in the plans of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) -- majority owner of four of the Saudi Pro League's biggest clubs including Al-Ittihad -- and they had been expected to make a major move for the Egyptian in the summer of 2024. However, plans to sign Salah have accelerated in recent days with PIF determined to furnish Al-Ittihad with the best squad possible before they host the Club World Cup in December.
The arrival of continental champions from across the globe is viewed as a pivotal moment for the game in Saudi Arabia within the country, where it is hoped that a successful tournament for Al-Ittihad could drive both talent and eyeballs to the Pro League. As such, Nuno Espirito Santo's side, who will enter the competition in the first round, have been furnished with some of the biggest signings made in the Pro League this summer, with PIF effectively blocking Al-Nassr's move for N'Golo Kante once the Frenchman agreed to move to Jeddah.
Were Salah to depart for Al-Ittihad, he would join up with former Liverpool teammate Fabinho as well as Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema. Unless Pro League registration rules were to change, his arrival would put pressure on the champions to move out one of their other foreign players. It has been suggested that Jota, who only joined from Celtic last month, could be flipped to make room for any new signing.
There are significant hurdles between Salah and a move to Jeddah. Liverpool will not want to sell their star player, particularly with the transfer deadline on Sept. 1. That in itself may well be insurmountable even for PIF. The player's agent, Ramy Abbas, also said on Aug. 7, "If we considered leaving LFC this year, we wouldn't have renewed the contract last summer. Mohamed remains committed to LFC." Salah has two years left to run on a £350,000-a-week contract at Anfield.
He would stand to earn significantly more than that if he chose to join Al-Ittihad, however. CBS Sports sources indicate that Salah would be offered a salary package on a par with that earned by Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr and Neymar at Al-Hilal. That would be made up of a base salary around €70 million a year but his earnings could more than double.
Moving for Salah now also reflects the competitive environment within PIF over the biggest names. Al-Hilal had placed the forward third on their list of targets for this summer behind Lionel Messi and Neymar, who signed for the Riyadh club last week. They had been expected to be in the mix for his services next season but Al-Ittihad are bidding to beat them to the punch.
